A subreddit dedicated to providing a welcoming environment for mature gamers to gather and discuss, free from the annoyance of Squeakers, trolls and people who don't understand the responsibilities of adults and parents.
All of y'all's year reviews made me want to do the same, so I wrote down a few sentences of everything I played last year. I was surprised it was so much as my partner moved in with me and I expected to have a lot less time, but that actually didn't happen and Corona did its thing. I'm a bit late to the review party, but I needed time to write down my thoughts and didn't want to do it in one session. Standard platform is PC, everything else is labelled. Done: Darkest Dungeon – halfway through (most tier 2 bosses). it was a nice and interesting start to a game I thought I liked, but 40 hours in I realized I was in fact not having fun. It was repetitive and the payout was very low for me as rewards felt small and especially upgrades to the village took a lot of time. I did play the game with too much emphasis on keeping every character alive, in a game that wants you burn them, so maybe that’s one me. But maybe it’s just not my type of game. Visuals, presentation and the IDEA of the combat system were nice, though. 5/10 Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4) – finished story. Kingdom Hearts has become a burning pile of tires, but I hold it dear since the first game and I want to know what is happening. The visuals are amazing and the combat system is engaging, at least, yet a bit much at times, with way too many special interactions going on at all times. But KH3 is basically if the story has an alignment which is just true chaotic. The main story is…there, for most of the game, but nothing happens with it. Each world has its own story and both them and the overarching plot are almost completely irrelevant to each other. What a pity. Also, so many minigame and once-and-gone game mechanics, what the hell. I had fun, but it could have been so much better. And they skipped over most FF elements. 6/10 The Wolf Among Us – 100%. Played it with my partner who had already finished it years before. It’s one of the prime Telltale games and the first that I wasn’t familiar with the source material with. It has a very interesting lore and visuals for sure. Other than that, very much a standard Telltale game and you either like it or you don’t. I did enjoy it a lot with its interesting plot and characters. 8/10 Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Switch, digital version) – finished story. I like me some occasional space game. Starlink was an oddball in many ways for me. I probably wouldn’t have looked at it as I thought it’s just a toy merch game, but Starfox and the existence of a toyless version drew me to this. I know I could have played nicer looking version, but the tie-in with Starfox was actually not that shallow and came with a small unique storyline, so that’s the most Starfox I will get until Nintendo releases (and doesn’t fuck up) another full game. Due to its toy origins, the game has a few unique quirks, like the weapon, ship and pilot switching on-the-go to match enemy vulnerabilities and combat styles. The mix of planetary and solar exploration and gradual faction growth with even a few RTS elements sprinkled in worked for me. It was a lot of fun! 7/10 Injustice 2 – finished story, some achievement hunting, trying out all characters a bit and dabbled in the multiverse mode. I’m not a huge Beat’Em’Up player, but some concepts are too interesting to pass up. Given how few Heroe League (Avengers and Justice League) games come out well, I had to take my chances here. The story is…forced, but it works for this kind of game. The interactions between the heroes are pretty entertaining to watch. I can’t really judge if the combat system was good or not or balanced or not, but it worked for me, although some fights were pretty frustrating. 7/10 Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales – 100%. Gwent really got to me in the Witcher 3. It was kinda sad to see that this is an entirely different card game (although closer to the online Gwent), but it was still a great one. Telling the really interesting story of Queen Meve, the game not only expands the lore of the really intriguing Witcherverse, it also tells it through this mix of roaming through a map and army fights presented by card battles. The visuals weren’t all too exciting, although the art style worked for me. The score was awesome, though, maybe even better than the one from W3. I can absolutely recommend this game to any person interested in card games and in the Witcher. 9/10 Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden – finished story and most content. I have so many tactical RPGs on my backlog, all with very interesting settings, but animal mutants in a postapocalyptic Sweden? That’s one of the freshest ideas in a while. The top hat wearing duck really sold it to me. Unlike many other games of its genre like XCOM, the areas are connected with each other like in more classic RPGs. Stealth kills played a huge part in this game as open combat makes the game a lot harder. It’s not a very long game, which I appreciated. However, the initial premise of its animal mutants really fell short as there were actually not that many in the game. I also would have liked to have more of the characters in my team, but the stealth advantages made some characters a lot stronger than others, so there was little choice in which people to take. Itemization and progress were alright, the combat is pretty much as in XCOM etc. 7/10 Cities in Motion – played some scenarios. Preparing for Cities: Skylines, I figured I should play this first. It’s an alright public transport planning simulation that made me excited for planning stuff throughout several cities. However, I have some serious issues with it. For once, this game punished you hard for planning public transport like in real life and creating ridiculously tiny lines (like 2 stations per metro line) was the only way to any meaningful amount of money. Also, the German scenario pack has 12 scenarios, but only 4 cities (other packs are similar). It’s interesting to revisit cities in different eras, but to rebuild everything every time is annoying. And the tasks you get are borderline asinine, like building a line with three stations in far ends of the map, which I circumvented with temporary lines that I immediately deleted after completing it. In its core it had great potential, but felt lazily executed. 5,5/10 BATTLETECH – finished story, some flashpoints and fooled around with mech components for a bit afterwards. Been a while since I dived into MechWarrior games, maybe a good 17 years. Battletech is…GOOD. Maybe my favorite game I have played that year. The campaign is great, has a good plot, but also gives you an open galaxy to explore at your own leisure. The hunt for new mech chassis in the midgame was the most fun I think. Building mechs, balancing your finances, keeping your people alive and trained, random events on board of your ship and upgrading your ship all felt meaningful and well interconnected. It’s also a turn-based tactical RPG, but it works with its own rules (like weapon groups and destroyable sections) and does so very well. 9,5/10 Batman – The Telltale Series – 100%. A solid game for both Batman and Telltale fans. The story was original enough and I always enjoy a plot that isn’t focused on the way overused Joker – who has his part, but a very interesting one. Not really much more to say here. 8/10 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) – finished story and most of the map. Finally, I tackled this behemoth of this generation. I haven’t played a Zelda since Majora’s Mask and the reason for that was a lack of drive to finish either of the N64 installments. Now, 20 years and a friend with a copy available later, I felt urged to play it as I wanted to give back the copy. Didn’t expect much despite the hype, but I have to say this game is (almost) as good as people say. It’s one of the few games that really lets you do whatever you want in the order you want (after a brief tutorial). My partner is playing it right now and it’s interesting to see how different our approaches to the order of quests and also specific challenges are. It rewards creative problem solving due to its physics engine. It is not perfect, especially the weapon system is weird and non-permanency in weapons feels just odd. NPCs are not very well written. The world is rather empty and while that has a plot reason, it feels like there should be more at times. But despite that, the game is a lot of fun and deserves its reputation. 9/10 Monster Hunter World + Iceborne (PS4) – defeated everything up to Furious Rajang, about 350 hours played with a fixed group of 3 and sometimes two other RL friends. Probably the game played most intensely this year. I bought a PS4 Pro in February and soon after – also thanks to Corona – I started playing this with two other friends, almost daily for several months. I had played Tri a decade ago and liked the general idea, but hated a lot of outdated conventions (both from Nintendo and the game itself) back then. World does most things I hated so much better. The monsters are engaging and (mostly) fun, the weapons are diverse and have their niches, the progression system is addictive, I love the Palicos & the private suite customizations and there is so much to see and find in the few maps they have. Great game if you like the combat and if you don’t focus too much on story because that one is paper-thin. 9/10 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) – finished story. I liked U2 and U3 a lot, so this was a must-play after getting the PS4. It’s probably the most graphically impressive game I have played so far. The combat felt a little forced at times, but I guess that’s the genre. Although sneaking felt more possible and rewarding than in previous titles (as far as I remember). The story is a typical “one last gig” thing, but I liked the inclusion of Drake’s youth and especially how they concluded the Drake saga (maybe?). It’s a very solid game and definitely a must-play for PS4 owners. 8,5/10 EVERSPACE – finished story, post-story and most side missions. I don’t like losing progress, but like Rogue-likes with in-between progression systems, so despite my first hesitation, I picked up this game as I was craving a new space game. Though having a VR, I never got to play it in that mode, but still, I had a lot of fun with it. Some runs were intense and discovering new elements always put an excited wtf face on my head. The in-universe explanation for it being Rogue-like worked for me and getting funds to improve your ships between runs was addictive enough to try again and again. Same with weapons, they were different enough to try out different ones. Just don’t expect too much content out of this, it’s not a big game. 7/10 GRID (2019) – finished base game and some of the season pass content. I was a big fan of the first Grid and played all games in between. But like them, this one did not manage to be as engaging as the first one. While I enjoyed playing through the different leagues and liked the variety of cars and inclusion of a team mate, I did get bored to go through every cup as some of them had a severe lack of cars within them. There was no upgrading of cars, money was meaningless for 99% of the game and a overall career feeling of the ‘story’ mode was absent. At least I didn’t have to basically only race against Ravenwest anymore and other teams were still relevant. I feel like Codemasters could do a lot more with the foundation they have created here, but fail to connect the races in a meaningful way. 6/10 Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (PS4) – finished story and most side quests. This was one of my most wanted PS4 titles before Horizon: Zero Dawn came out. I loved Star Ocean 1, 2 and 4 so much. 4 in particular was just great enough to fill the small void that FFXIII had left back then. I heard about the mediocre reviews of IaF. And it was…actually mediocre. What I forgot or never knew was that I got released as a PS3 game in Japan first. And it really, really shows. The game was UGLY. Not ugly ugly, but playing it directly after Uncharted 4 was quite a shock. Not that it matters too much. However, the second problem I have with this game is directly aim at its soul. The other games had you jumping between planets and several distinct locations. And IaF started very promising, hinting at similar qualities. But then, it just…went into its climax and ended. Sure, some parts are in actual space. But you have seen about 80% of the locations within the first quarter of the game, which is ridiculous. It’s such a pity as the game’s story and combat are actually very enjoyable and I loved just grinding, which is quite unusual for me. But the narrow scope of the game wastes a lot of potential and that’s a real disappointment to me as a fan of the series. It could have easily done so much better. 6,5/10 Risen – finished. Oh boy, this game was sitting in my backlog for a LONG time – probably since its release I wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, this is a case of being TOO patient. The game is horribly outdated nowadays, the combat is not much fun and punishes you hard even on easy difficulty. The quest flow, general plot, start and choice of character skills are good, but I do think everything else – graphics, item flow, combat, sound, art design - was pretty bad. This was two years before Skyrim, but it feels like it’s been 10, honestly. I am still curious about Risen 2, 3 and Elex, however. But I might skip the first two after this. 3/10 Team Sonic Racing (Switch) – finished story. Yes, story. It’s as good dumb as you would expect from a Sonic racing game. Weirdly enough, I performed a lot better in handheld mode. The minigames are frustratingly hard as drifting is way overdone. The actual racing is nice, but no match to Mario Kart 8, although I do appreciate the idea of teams with ultimate boosts and item sharing. 6,5/10 Yakuza 0 – finished story and most major side activities. God, this game completely surprised me. I was absolutely 0 interested in crime settings, but Humble gave me this gem of a game. My partner suggested to try it out together, but lost interest in it, so we stopped for 2 months. I then picked it up again by myself and got increasingly invested in the story, the combat system and the bajillion of side things to do. THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO! And most of it is fun, doesn’t overstay its welcome too much and helps develop the main characters a little bit. The Real Estate and Hostess Club minigames are basically entire games-within-a-game, the pocket racer would also work by itself and the Karaoke songs were absolutely adorable and are a must-see in all of gaming. While I thought that the game got bloated a bit due to the two characters both having their own full-blown story, but sharing a single game, the interconnection made it kind of necessary to not separate them. But the game felt a bit long thanks to that (and all of the minigames that felt kinda mandatory at times). Anyway, I am now completely hooked on the series and look forward to the next entry – although I really need some time off lest I encounter the good old Assassin’s Creed-like fatigue. But given I couldn’t give two shits about Yakuza – even though I fucking majored in Japan Studies – this is an amazing feat. 9/10 Additional note: Getting into Yakuza memes alone is worth playing this, but the more I read and watch about this game and the series, the more and more I appreciate this franchise. Endless Legend with a few DLCs – finished two full games (~38 hours). I was in the mood for a 4X game and this one was poking in my side for a bit. Endless Space was quite enjoyable and the overarching plot kinda works? I enjoyed expanding, researching and the quest system as well, but it felt just like Civ5 in general, with a few exceptions of course. It was weird that the ‘ages’ weren’t really differentiated visually and that you kept using the same units throughout the whole game – also there are not many of them, but there is an intriguing RPG-like customization system baked into it instead, which was cool enough. The winter and sea fortress system was also refreshing (but probably brought in from DLCs). Factions had some differences that went beyond what Civ would do, but the really deviating ones (like lava or fungus people that need different ways of city building) were hidden behind DLCs I do not have. Two games were enough for me, but I may come back in the future. 7/10 Need for Speed: Payback (PS4) – finished story. Being a PSN+ freebie, I got a bit excited over the silly F&F story that I felt like seeing with my own eyes. And the game delivered on that - but not much more. My last true NfS was Hot Pursuit (2010) (and my NfS favorites: Shift 1+2), so it had been a while. But I realize that I do not need that speed anymore. While the game was ultimately enjoyable, especially cruising around, finding stuff and customizing the cars, I especially disliked the offroad races with their weird rubber band perfect traction AI which was really frustrating. The driving in general revolved too much around drifting everything, but I guess that’s full arcade racers for you. And the automatic car reset was a bit too eager at times. 5,5/10 Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4) – finished story and Croft manor side story. Also a PSN+ freebie. I have played the first game and was quite entertained by it. As I played Uncharted not too long ago, I was able to compare those two games a bit and while Uncharted looks undoubtedly better (and I prefer non-supernatural stuff in this kind of game), I think that Tomb Raider is the better game overall. This might be due to the usage of a skill and weapon customization system, which made exploring places and looking for XP, resources and parts fun. I also think that limiting the game’s world to one location (outside the prologue) helped immersion a lot. The game has quite a bit of a different feeling than the first TR, but mostly due to Lara being kickass from the start instead of allegedly being a frail grad student that 20 hours later massacres armies of armed and trained mercenaries. I liked it quite a lot of the backstory with her dad and caretaker were quite interesting as well. 8/10 Not done / on and off: League of Legends – almost exclusively ARAM, sometimes bot games for trying out stuff. Not much to say to this, it’s a notorious, but ultimately good MOBA. The new items overhaul was a bit of a big change, but now I am getting the hang of it, I think. Some of the new champions of this year are fun to play, like Samira, Lilia and Seraphine. One of my friends quit the game for good, I think, so only one other is left, and it’s the go-to game if it’s just the two of us. Sometimes I play by myself, but I try to play more single player games then. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) – some 70 hours to built my house, the island is my partner’s. This is my first Animal Crossing and after hesitating at the beginning, I did enjoy it quite a lot. It’s very relaxing, you can work towards small goals, but without any stress. Interactions with other villagers will become repetitive, but at the beginning it feels very sweet. It’s also nice that Nintendo supports the game with free updates every month. 8/10 Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution! (Switch) – played through story mode until midway ARC-V. I have my YGO phases every now and then where I watch a show and play a corresponding game at the same time. The Switch game is pretty nice as it lets me play through all TV shows’ stories, lets me play with most characters’ decks, has reverse duels for every story battle, but I also can always use my own decks which is sometimes very necessary as some matches are VERY one-sided. There are also challenge battles against very good decks which are as difficult as I imagine actual competitive dueling. Two things I don’t like about this particular YGO game: No free battle vs. CPU and only 30 custom deck save slots. The Tag Force games were still ahead in that regard. Still, it’s a solid entry that can provide hundreds of hours of entertainment for YGO enthusiasts and is a great travel companion. 8/10 Undertale – I just can’t get into it, sorry. This is my second attempt and I got a lot further than last time (about one third in). But something just doesn’t click with me. Maybe the humor feels forced, maybe the retro graphics do, or maybe I get too hype-talked by people. I don’t know. Super Seducer – almost done with the first one. We mostly play it together or with other people, to have a good time. I got this from Dunkey, but I have to say the first one isn’t even that funny. A lot of the explanation in how to approach women are cringy at best and predatory at worst. I guess it does teach how to behave better for some very inexperienced guys, but in general it shouldn’t be used as a guideline in how to get girls to talk to you. Katamari Damacy REROLL – almost done. It’s a fun game for a silly afternoon. The controls are garbage, but it doesn’t matter too much. The humour is great and rolling up increasingly bigger things is weirdly satisfying. Borderlands 2 – Playing with friends every now and then. It’s still fun and I haven’t explored all characters yet (although leave me alone with Krieg), so there’s still more to get out of it. Jackbox 1-7 – I was a huge fan of the early YDKJ games 20 years ago, so I’m happy they are still around and have adapted new technologies to further their game concepts. The Jackbox games have become staples in many parties and were a major driver during corona to get people together online around the globe to play a few rounds of whatever minigame we wanted to enjoy. Some games are not good, of course, but the ever-growing library of minigames always manages to add refreshing new titles to the list. My favorites are Quiplash, T-K.O. and Champ’d. 10/10 Risk of Rain 2 – unlocked all characters, had a couple of runs with friends and by myself. I have to say I might not like the game too much. The characters are interesting and the upgrade system is addictive, but losing progress without much being gained from a run (except lunar coins and unlocked characters/skills) feels like making no progress at all, in a way. It’s fun to play with friends and you can somewhat relax and chat while jumping and shooting around. 6/10 Beat Saber – half of campaign mode, but mostly custom songs. I LOVE Beat Saber. It’s the reason I got a VR system this year (a used 2017 Vive, but I don’t need more for that) and I had a lot of fun (and exercise!) with it. It’s sad when your wanted songs have not been mapped or mapped really bad, but the existing database is really big and a lot of fun to go through. There are a lot of gameplay additions (like one-handed, 90° and 360° modes), but the standard mode is still the best (or most-supported). The latter half of the campaign is dumb as hell, tho - hitting a specific amount of combos within a very small threshold in both min and max is such a dumb thing. Mods make the game a whole lot better and some stuff should really be in the base game. 9/10 Audica – played through campaign mode and some custom songs. Not as good as Beat Saber, but it’s still very enjoyable. It’s hits the same spot, but with a twist. Mod support is not a big here, but still there. 8/10 Cities: Skylines + most DLCs – still working on my first city after 40 hours. Depicted as the penultimate city builder, I had to get into this at some point. I have to admit, it’s pretty good. As good as imagined? Maybe, maybe not. The base formula is not that complicated, but the DLCs add a whole lot of flavor to it. I can definitely recommend it, but I still have a lot of time ahead with it. Postponed: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) – I started and had a lot of fun with it, but stopped after roughly 5-10 hours as my partner was taking over the Switch with BotW (she played Witcher 3 before, so I was able to player with the Switch in the meantime) and switching cartridges all the time is a pain in the ass. Will continue soon and am very excited to do so. Summary: 2020 was probably the most intense gaming year for me so far, mostly thanks to Corona. My top three are probably BATTLETECH, BotW and Yakuza 0, with some honorable mentions to Beat Saber, MH:W and Jackbox. My gaming year 2021 is going to look similarily awesome and I already planned to play so many very high-profile games: Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Paper Mario: The Origame King, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Starpoint Gemini Warlords (almost finished this one already), Darksiders 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Gran Turismo Sport, Persona 5 Royal, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Borderlands 3, GTA V.
Ghost of Tsushima has a distinctive aesthetic, after all, but it’s only skin-deep. The core game underneath that alluring exterior is a pastiche of open-world game design standards from five years ago; it lacks a real personality of its own. Ghost of Tsushima offers a lovely world to explore, and there’s value in that, but it should have been so much more than a checklist of activities to accomplish.
It's that explosive transformation from poet into warrior, from spiritual entity into the spirit of death. It just happens so fast and this game so perfectly captures that duality. In my own gameplay experience... Ghost of Tsushima is outstandingly good.
If you need to get lost in over 30 hours of heroic gameplay right now, in a single-player adventure with no online connectivity gimmicks or content locked away as DLC, Sucker Punch has you covered with an instant contender for 2020's game of the year.
It's definitely worth buying. I would say that this is one of the most enjoyable games I've played this year. It means a lot of the things I've wanted in a HUD and a system that I didn't even know I wanted. It pushes out that LOD and that draw distance to insane levels which really does make the world feel completely different. Graphically, it's got some issues, it's not exactly perfect, but there's this hypnotic quality right now in open-world games and I don't even hate any of them. It's just that they all feel pretty samey. This one certainly does have a structure that is somewhat the same, but a lot of things it tries to do, it allows you to at least experience what they want you to experience which is being that character a little easier. Lots of fun with this game and I will for sure be returning to it.
The world is enormous, filled to the brim with rich content to explore. It can be a bit much sometimes with the number of artefacts you can find or haikus to sit and devise bloating things a little bit, but players will be blown away by the deep storytelling and unbelievable style and personality that Ghost of Tsushima brings to the table.
The gameplay is fun, the narrative and its characters are great, and the art direction is absolutely beautiful. The pros here vastly outweigh the cons. Ghost of Tsushima is a breathtaking adventure.
Ghost of Tsushima perfectly balance an exquisite combat system that is easy to learn but hard to master, a complex and rich narrative ripped from the reels of Kurosawa and a free flowing picturesque world that matches the depth and mutability of story and combat. Simply put - Ghost of Tsushima is a perfect open world experience.
Undoubtedly, Ghost of Tsushima is the greatest game of the generation. With perfect storytelling, supremely satisfying combat, and an astounding world that's packed with content and gorgeous sights, it raises the bar for open world games.
With Ghost of Tsushima under its belt, Sucker Punch deserves to be in the same conversation as Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Sony Santa Monica. If this generation is to wrap up soon, it's fitting that it'll end with Tsushima: one of its most beautiful games thus far.
At turns both melancholy and thrilling, Ghost of Tsushima is the open-world action formula at its most mature and immersive. Deep, rewarding, and hard to put down
Ghost of Tsushima is easily the biggest and most ambitious game Sucker Punch has ever undertaken. It's also the best game they've ever made. Akira Kurosawa would be proud.
Ghost of Tsushima is a fitting swan song for the PS4, and ends this generation of PlayStation on a triumphant note. Sucker Punch have to be applauded for once again creating a jaw-dropping open world with strong visual fidelity and some of the best art direction they've ever achieved.
If Ghost of Tsushima is the swan song game for the PS4, then it ends with a whirlwind of slashes, and it gives Sucker Punch the franchise it’s aiming for that stands toe to toe with the likes of God of War, Uncharted, and the rest of Sony’s impressive first-party studio games lineup.
A fitting PlayStation first-party exclusive to arrive for the PS4, Ghost of Tsushima is an epic adventure that has all the right ingredients for major success.
Once I successfully reconciled my expectations with my reality, the game revealed itself as a compelling, masterful work of art. Nothing feels useless or extraneous. The story wastes little time, the fights are all exuberant and engaging, the exploration is addicting, and the entire game is gorgeous. I can think of no better game to be the swan song for the PS4.
A melancholic tale of war and a fitting epilogue to a current-gen era, Sucker Punch's latest effort is a slick showcase for the PlayStation 4 that draws you into a world that never fails to impress. Ghost of Tsushima is a masterpiece of precise gameplay, emotional turmoil and powerful world design.
A game full of meaningful moments, of quiet contemplation and brutal, savage combat. A game about family, tradition, honour and change that comes at a significant point of change in Sony’s videogame strategy. A more hopeful and less alienating experience than The Last of Us Part II and a step back to a more gentle and inviting form of open world adventure, Ghost of Tsushima is both a celebration of the past and a look towards the future, and is a fitting first party swansong for the PS4.
Ghost of Tsushima elevates the existing open world adventure template with a fantasy-free Samurai adventure that deftly pays loving homage to the Samurai cinema of old. While your mileage may vary according to your level of open world fatigue, Ghost of Tsushima undoubtedly remains not only one of the best open world romps money can buy and a stunning PlayStation 4 exclusive, but also Sucker Punch Productions finest effort to date.
Ghost of Tsushima is a joy to play and a joy to behold. Sucker Punch has crafted one of the most memorable open world games of this generation, buoyed by an immensely satisfying combat system and an engaging, dramatic story.
While Ghost of Tsushima has a few of the standard pop-ins and visual glitches that are common to most open-world games this is still one of the most beautiful and fluid titles I’ve ever played. While I did have a few moments of frustration, usually brought on by camera angle issues, they are almost completely forgivable when I look at the overall package. There’s just too much here to like and none of it feels tacked on or a time-filler.
Ghost of Tsushima features a level of charm that gives it a soul and personality lacking from so many AAA games lack these days. Even if it ultimately suffers from repetition by the game’s end, and despite a lack of variety in its quest, the magic of that initial exploration and the beauty of its world will stick with me for a very long time.
Ghost of Tsushima is Sucker Punch's best game yet and a great open world title capable of measuring to some of the biggest names in the genre. The excellent rendition of feudal Japan, along with its well-written characters and story, make Ghost of Tsushima stand out as the last must-have PlayStation 4 exclusive.
Ghost of Tsushima is irresistibly enchanting but just shy of perfection because it never pushes its narrative or gameplay to the cutting-edge. Sucker Punch’s latest tries to do a lot, and it slam dunks a vast majority of its narrative, design, and stylistic choices. Sure, the game could have leaned more aggressively into some of its best features. But I’ll happily take Ghost for what it is: an incredible showcase of everything great about this generation of video games.
Ghost of Tsushima is a great experience, telling the tale of a lone individual that’s trying to hold together the idea and honor of what it means to be a Samurai despite the odds requiring new methods of engagement.
Ghost of Tsushima might be built from the same stuff as its AAA, open world contemporaries, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the best open world experiences of the generation.
Ghost of Tsushima offers a well-designed open world that combines great combat with enticing exploration. The excellent art style brings this unique historical setting to life, and smart design choices help the game overcome its minor flaws.
Ghost of Tsushima isn't perfect but, like a summoned objective on your touchpad, it's a breath of fresh air that'll send a warm chill down the spine of any Samurai aficionado.
It is quite possibly the best samurai game ever made, and is well worth picking up if you’re after another epic open-world to get lost in. Just temper your expectations as much as your steel.
Ghost of Tsushima is an excellent open-world adventure from Sucker Punch Productions which adds some innovative ideas to a fairly stagnant genre. The game's depiction of the time period is generic and inoffensive, but that doesn't prevent it from being a stunning visual showcase and a worthwhile swan song for the PS4
The game may never have been as sweet as it was in the first of the three main areas, but, to its credit, that’s because I was swept along by the story.
Ghost of Tsushima is a very well-made game that does exactly what it says on the box. You get the hands-on experience of samurai life in a beautiful environment with some very rewarding gameplay and fighting styles.
Tsushima doesn’t really do anything poorly, but it also doesn’t try to do anything that we haven’t seen before. It’s a well-produced B movie of a game that lifts the look of actual art—a slick, commercial piece of work using Japanese cinema as set dressing.
Ghost of Tsushima is an enjoyable but muddled experience: its strong gameplay fundamentals are hampered by a lack of originality and weak storytelling.
As an earnest, respectful tribute to Jidaigeki dramas and the films of Akira Kurosawa, Ghost of Tsushima fares well enough. It creates a fictionalized account of the Mongol Invasion and weaves the tale into the most videogamey of videogame things – an open-world sandbox filled with straw-hat wearing ronin, mischievous foxes, hot springs, and meditative haiku. It’s easily the most ambitious output from Sucker Punch Productions to date.
Ghost of Tsushima is an artistically creative game that often feels like a realistic Zelda game. The minimal UI, clever use of wind and beautiful environmental details make exploration rewarding on its own. When it comes to combat, the game falls flat. With a huge number of combat games to draw inspiration from, it is a shame this game is more like Dynasty Warriors than it is Ninja Gaiden. Endless button mashing with no way to ever pull off slick combos will have you feeling bored very quickly. You never feel like the powerful warrior the story tries to make you believe you are. Combat feels like you are trying to beat a screw into a piece of wood using a hammer.
PS5 (or 4) Game Recommendations for somebody who hasn't played too many video games
I'd love to get some recommendations specific to what I'm into! I just got a PS5 and I've played a few games. Here is what I'm considering for the next game: For Myself
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - I'm more interested in this than demons souls I think, but it doesn't seem to have scored as well with critics. I feel like part of the assassin's creed problem is that it gets repetitive but I haven't really played the old ones so I wonder if that would make me enjoy it more? Maybe I should just get assassin's creed odyssey and save some dough?
Demons Souls Remastered - I loved spiderman miles morales and this game just feels super dark compared to that and something like skyrim. Maybe it wouldn't bother me? Not really sure
Horizon Zero Dawn - the original. I'm interested in the upcoming game, and this one is kinda cheap so maybe a warm up?
For Local Multiplayer
Sackboy (the newest one) is this fun for adults?
Dirt 5 - not sure if a racing game is worth it
So here has been my gaming experience: PS2 As a 9 or 10 year old, I loved some old spiderman game (not sure which one) and Tony Hawk 3. I also played a lot of sports games, but now I'm pretty much just into Fifa. Other People's XBoxes In high school, I didn't have any of the newer systems, but loved playing the first Assassins Creed at a friends house. Halo and Call of Duty were always kinda "meh" to me. Although I do want some games for playing online with friends. PS3 Eventually, I was given a hand me down PS3, but long after they were "en vogue" and after the PS4 existed. I still played it occasionally. I liked Fifa, and tried fallout 4 a bit. Eventually I started playing the borderlands games with my wife. They weren't my favorite games, but they were fun. My wife and I also played some PS3 COD Zombies game quite a bit and I had similar opinions. Fun, but only for maybe an hour or two every now and then. Then I bought Skyrim about a year ago, and I fell in love. That game is awesome. I've sunk tons of hours into it and I love it. PS5 This year, a kind person gifted me a PS5 and I've been having a lot of fun with it. The first game I bought was Fifa so I could play with the person who got me the system (although I've been having some problems with the controller going in and out - mentioned in the Tech Support thread if you have any help suggestions, I'd love to hear them!) I like Fifa, but it doesn't really suck me in. It's just nice for like 30 min. to an hour every now and then. Then I got Spiderman: Miles Morales and I couldn't put the controller down. that game was awesome, albeit short. I bought Borderlands 3 to get my wife involved, and I'd love to get more games she's into that we can play together. (Maybe COD Cold War for Zombies??) Besides tiny splitscreen and a few more bugs forcing system restarts (an unobtainable brain and a bug that wouldn't let us move right off the bat) than I'd prefer for such an expensive game, it's been pretty fun. Lastly, I got The Witcher III, which is a pretty old game but has been compared to skyrim a lot in what I've read (and was only $12, so that was pretty nice). But I haven't fallen in love with it the same way I did with Skyrim. I can't quite figure out why. I'm definitely going to give it a bit more time, but it hasn't really pulled me into the game in the same way Skyrim did and I'm a bit disappointed.
Recap of the games I got the Platinum trophy this 2020 (& some other completed games)
Hello everyone, I've read almost every post of people doing recaps of their year in gaming and i've enjoyed a lots of them! I've been wanting to do a list myself but couldn't put myself together to do it, but at last I'm here, however to keep things "Fresh" (or different to some degree) I will review the games I got the platinum trophy for, and not just games I played this year (I will however put some honorable mentions for games i played outside the playstation ecosystem that i completed to 100% or games that im 1-2 trophies close to get the plat). Having said this, the list is going to be weird (and a long read): Goat Simulator : I believe this game was given away for PS Plus members, so thats the reason I picked it up and since I noticed it was a fairly simple platinum i gave it a go (according to psnprofiles, i got it in the lapse of 2 days 18 hours). The game is funny, its obviously glitchy, buggy, an overall mess but i got a couple of laughs here and there. There were frustrating stuff such as the flappy goat one, but overall a "funny" experience. I wouldn't recommend the game of other reason than just messing around and not taking things seriously. The fun factor however and the novelty fades away somehow quickly, so for a "freebie" (not entirely free since im paying for the subscription) it was okay. 5/10 (mediocre game, for really cheap or free its okayish) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019): Got the game because most of my friends from high-school love to play the MP (and specially, the search and destroy mode), kinda broke the patientgaming rule because I got it like 4-5 months later, but I stroke a got deal from a used copy so yeah, couldn't go wrong. The campaign is really good, very enjoyable, the gunplay in this CoD is really smooth and feels better than previous installments, the graphics are superb and voice acting its really good, misions doesn't feel repetitive and the story is not the most engaging but enjoyable. Also, as a side note i prefer the "normal" MP rather than "Warzone" mode, since my favorite battle royale is apex legends I felt Warzone to be gigantic and slow-paced. Overall the platinum was okay, nothing too hard, just the last trophy I got "We Own the night" was kinda glitchy and Couldn't make it pop for a couple of tries. 8/10 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: Got it as a present from my gf, I'm a big Star Wars fan and metroidvania fan, so this was just my cup of tea. Dragged it for a couple of months because being an adult sucks, but the game its very very good. Combat is good, nothing outstanding but shines whenever you face "humanoid" enemies, and plain sucks when fighting monsters and animals, story is great for Star Wars fans, personally I liked the map designs and overall exploration. However it has a big issue, if you are intolerant to some degree to technical issues... well, you wont enjoy this game, even on the ps4 Pro this baby got buggy at times, a couple of T-Poses, some freezes when loading areas, and without being to spoilerish there was this big scene when i was supposed to get up in a elevator and presence a big fight... I instead got a scene where the good guys and bad guys where just hanging around and chilling, without a single shot being fired or anything, had to reload the save point (only after laughing for a couple of minutes) and it went like it was supposed to in the first place lol. the trophy was straightforward and easy, just the backtracking as a little bit tedious sometimes...Also, the last boss fight and cutscene were top notch. 8.5/10 for me, since i can handle the technical issues. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (remastered): First game of the trilogy, and is the one that has aged the worst. Its clear that this game was not designed to be played on the highest difficulties, because enemy placement was beyond stupid. In contrast, Modern warfare's Veteran difficulty felt FAIR, and if you die it because you made a mistake, here you can die for stupid and frustrating reasons. The game, however, in more "standard" difficulties is a fun game, although it shows its age but you can get some charm out of it, but since im reviewing games i got the platinum from, and this game was a pain in the ass to plat, well, thats why i ranted a little. All next consequent games are far better than this, but if you have the collection I suggest to play this game on normal and continue with the rest ASAP. 6.5/10 God of War: Chains of Olympus (PS3): I was in the mood for some hack and slash action and decided to start striking down my ps3 backlog, I really like this console so I started with the GoW Origins Collection and gave chains of olympus a go since I started the game about 1-2 years prior this attempt. Playing next to my girl while she was grinding her animal crossing: new horizon island made it better, since i could just turn my brain off and enjoy the action. Decent game, not the best GoW but for a Vita port it was good. Plat was not hard either, but i missed a couple of, well, miss-able trophies and that is always an annoying thing. 7/10 Transistor: Supergiant games became one of my favorite game developers after this. Since the very first moment I booted up the game I got charmed by it. The setting, the soundtrack, the soothing voice of the Transistor, the mysterious beauty of Red, the combat system which was kinda unique for me so it was a nice change of pace, overall, those experiences and games that are just very suited for you. I cannot recommend this game enough to even at least give it a try the fact that the last boss has the same abilities that you have felt unique This game also made me try Bastion, but I played it on my phone and didn't complete it 100%. Transistor trophy can put on a challenge in some of its trophies, but if the game "clicks" on you just like it did with me, well, you will appreciate it artificially lengths the game. Loved the game, I still listen to "The Spine" on spotify from time to time. 9/10 The Order 1886: Got this game for very cheap, and after listening that it was a quick campaign and easy plat and overall good experience so i said why not. Its the definition of "Good" game, a 7.5-8 game, that doesn't set anything new on the table, or fantastic or out of this world, but delivers just fine. The setting is the most "original" thing and I really hope they make a sequel some day that further explores this "alternate era/time" London, also the lycans were underused in my opinion . The platinum is pretty straightforward, with chapter select available. 7.5/10 Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (2013, ps4): I have had already played Rise of the Tomb Raider before this one, and loved it, wanted to have all platinums from the trilogy, however this one a special one... the online requirements were a pain in the ass, I have to look for a group in psn profiles (i think, don't quiet remember if it was there on here on reddit) and had to boost all online MP trophies, and then the grind of the level 60 while i was watching some Hbomberguy videos (fantastic channel), the main campaign is very good, and i quite enjoyed it even with the collectibles since it wasn't that hard. Preferred this than Uncharted tbh, Lara is a fantastic protagonist, combat was decent, exploration good, voice acting and story were pretty good... but having MP trophies for a mostly single player game... yeah, thats a no no for me. The game is a solid 8/10, however the trophy list is a 3/10, fuck MP trophies in mostly single-player games. Hotline Miami (ps4): Fun. This is what this game is all about, having a good time and forget a little bit about everything. The 1HKO nature for both you and your enemies makes every encounter thrilling and exciting, the different weapons and masks (which grants you with different abilities) are not out of this world but engaging enough. Going for the plat was not as hard as I thought it was going to be, only a level or two were completely frustrating but only for small segments, with enough patience and practice you can make it through... and the soundtrack sticks with you for hours after playing. 8/10 solid game, quite short but im excited to try out the second one. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven (ps4): During this quarantine, I decided to finally watch stuff I had on my "watch list", one of those stuff was getting past the fourth chapter in Jojo's, im not much of an anime guy (only watched like 5-6, but the ones I've watched left me with a good impression such as FMA: Brotherhood which i consider to be one of the best tv series ever) but after looking at so many memes and references I decided to give it a go, finally, binged the whole five seasons and loved it to bits. I immediately searched up for games about the franchise and found this and a PS3 one, which was supposed to be better, however this was on sale so... yeah, I grabbed this one. The game is "Okayish", I think you will only fully enjoy it if you consider yourself to be a fan of the franchise and you would like to see "what if" scenarios, the gameplay is mediocre, but the characters and story (which is not a masterpiece, but is full of references to the different parts and the interaction of the characters is really good if you watched the anime/read the manga) are what made me stay to the end. The trophy list was not difficult, just the one that asked you to have a "S" rank in all missions was time consuming, but nothing too harsh. As a game 7/10 but you are going to love it if you are a fan of the franchise. Now I'm going to quickly list some honorable mentions that are 1-2 trophies away for the platinum, but I sold my ps4 for financial reasons, maybe when i can get a PS5... Hellblade: Senua's sacrifice: Only a couple of trophies away, the game is fantastic, I was close to get it but my girlfriend underwent surgery (not medical-emergency related, but still surgery) Rocket League: I actually achieved all conditions to have all the trophies for the platinum... but it hasn't popped out, the "car collector" trophy is glitched for me, maybe a PS5 log in will fix things? And some games I've completed 100% but are not on PS3/4 so they are not platinums: Apex legends on Xbox One, my favorite battle royale and MP game to play 8/10 (I have lots of critiques so is not a 9) FIFA 20 on Xbox One, I despised this game and haven't bought the 21 edition, fuck FIFA. 1/10 (I still got all achievements because I hate myself) Shantae Risky's Revenge on 3DS. Love Shantae and Metroidvanias, lots of fun 8/10 Super Metroid on 3DS. One of the best games ever and metroidvanias, wonderful still to this day 9.5/10 Thanks if you gave this a read, or if only you read games that got your attention, still, thanks for your time, it was a good year, since 9 platinums in a year for me is a ton, i like to trophy hunt but only for games I truly enjoy or are fast/easy or part of a series I want to track down. Happy new year everybody! Hope you have a fantastic 2021, remember to take care of yourself and wear a mask, I'm a physician so I'm asking in behalf of the health care staff! Cheers
I played a bunch of games in 2020. Here are my thoughts on each.
If any of you have played some of the same games I have, I'd love to hear about your experiences! GAMES I FINISHED (Note: I am not a completionist, so 'finished' is relative)
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PC) - I first bought Monster Hunter World on PC when it was on a good sale. I had never played a Monster Hunter game before and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Let me tell you all something: Those first 10 hours were a drag. The game has so many different systems and mechanics that I felt like I was way out of my league. The graphics, charm, and monster fights were just enough to keep me going. And then, after about 10 hours of trying to get my bearings, something clicked, and I was hooked. Before I knew it, I had blasted through the campaign and was farming gear and carefully calculating the perfect build to combat each monster. Once Iceborne released on PC, I hopped in immediately, and was not disappointed. The expansion felt like it almost doubled the size of the game, and more of the same is certainly not a bad thing. My only gripe: Not realizing I could change the voice lines to "monster hunter language" until after I finished the campaign. If I hear that handler call me "pard" one more time I'm going to punch a hole in my monitor.
Black Mesa (PC) - Half Life 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, tied with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Mass Effect 2. I've been waiting for Half Life 3 for 13 years (Alyx doesn't count), but in the meantime, I'll take a Half Life game that's been in development for that same length of time. It was refreshing to play such a classic game with a fresh coat of paint, as some older games are getting harder and harder to go back to. They included some levels that were cut from the original, but based on the pacing of those levels, they were probably cut for good reason. The work they did on Xen was phenomenal for such a small team, although it did have some graphical issues. I really appreciate the small extra story touches that they added to Xen. All in all, still a great FPS experience to this day.
The Witcher 3 (Switch) - Aka Switcher. I bought a Switch for myself Christmas 2019, and this was the first game I bought for it. I already played the game on PC when it came out, but after watching the Netflix series, I was itching to dive back in. It took some time adjusting to the small screen and lower framerate, but I eventually came to love playing The Witcher on the go. It's a great game to pick up, tackle a couple side quests, and set back down. In February the developers released a stellar update that patched the graphics/framerate and allowed cloud save sharing with Steam and GOG. Once I had the ability to go back and forth between the Switch and PC as I pleased, I started playing more frequently. Although The Witcher 3 is not my favorite game of all time, and it does have its flaws (friggin Roach), it is my opinion that this is the highest quality game ever made. We'll see if Cyberpunk can top it later this year. (Spoiler alert: It didn't)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) - This was my first foray into the world of Animal Crossing. I've got to admit that I enjoyed the childlike simplicity and charm. However, after a few days of play, I started to get annoyed with some of the mechanics that seem to be designed in such a way to artifically inflate the grind: -Not being able to craft items in your house using ingredients from storage. -Having to perfectly position yourself to place items where you want them outside of your house (the Sims-like interface from your house should be available everywhere) -Performing the same animation to pick up every single object. -Reading unnecessary text/dialogue every time you want to perform a simple task. -Not being able to interact with the items you craft. They are nothing more than decorations. However, these were not enough to spoil my experience. I played through to the end of the 'campaign', plus a little more. Even later in the year when I hadn't touched the game in months, I would still occasionally hear that relaxing island music and see those cute cuddly characters in my mind. Blathers must be so depressed without me delivering him fossils... Okay maybe I'll play a little more.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (PC) - Wow. This is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. The colors, sounds, characters, and animations are all woven together in a stunningly graceful fashion. I played the first one and enjoyed it, but this one improved upon the first in almost every aspect.
Halo Master Chief Collection (PC/Xcloud) - I had already beat Halo 1 multiple times in my childhood, but coming off the recently re-released Halo Reach, I was excited to dive back into Halo's universe. I experienced some bugs but the game was largely just as I remember it, with slightly higher resolutions and framerate. The multiplayer isn't half bad either. My friend that I wanted to play with had some terrible audio issues, so it was a bummer playing it alone. I went on to play all the other re-released campaigns this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. The combat would probably seem pretty basic for someone new to the franchise, but that's not likely to bother us nostalgic old folks. This was my first time playing Halo 4 and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, considering how many Halo fans abhored it.
Doom Eternal (PC) - Honestly, I had some mixed feelings about this one. Coming hot off the badassery of Doom 2016, I was hyped to rip and tear once again. However, I missed the coherent storyline, sense of dread, color palette, and simpler mechanics of Doom 2016. The developers chose to throw all of their eggs in the combat basket with this one. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; I initally had a lot of fun learning the flow of combat and shredding demons a new one to a blood-pumping metal soundtrack. But eventually I started to get frustrated that I was being forced to play the way the developers wanted me to play. The combat loop is the same every fight, and I started getting more frustrated with it as time went on and more enemies and chaos were added in. With the bloated mechanics in combination with platforming bugs, by the end I just wanted to be done with the game. I know a lot of gamers will love Eternal for it's complex combat system. However, prefering a mix of solid mechanics, storytelling, and world-building, Doom 2016 remains the standard for me.
Resident Evil 3 (PC) - Resident Evil is one of my favorite video game franchises, and Resident Evil 2 Remake was my favorite game of 2019, so this was a no-brainer day one buy for me. While I don't regret my purchase, I have to admit that the game is only worth $20-30. It was nonstop action from start to finish, and the production value was great, but it needed a few more hours to make it as great as its predecessor. I'm disappointed that they didn't spend a little bit more time developing this one.
Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - I dabbled in Final Fantasy VII about 10-11 years ago but never finished it. The story was cool but the graphics hadn't aged well into the PS3/XBox 360 generation. With the remake I was excited to hop back into Midgar with 2020 technology, and holy crap... this is a hot contender for game of the year. Engaging and varied combat. Visuals that should be impossible on 7 year old hardware. Fascinating characters with stellar voice acting. A classic story with a new twist. Goofy Japanese dialogue. Waifus. This has been my favorite gaming experience of the year so far and it's going to be difficult to top. Cyberpunk 2077, will you have what it takes? (Spoiler alert again: It didn't)
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition (Switch) - What I remember most about this game is that I started playing it in the car while my wife was in the hospital finding out the sex of our unborn baby (I couldn't go in due to COVID). Other than that, it was a pretty fun first-person shooter. It was certainly a better Duke Nukem game than Duke Nukem Forever.
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Switch) - This was another one I picked up on the Switch on sale, along with a lot of other games I played this year. I already owned the game on Steam, but the ability to play games anywhere made the Switch my go-to device for most of the games I played. The developers really did a fantastic job of making it feel like you were in the actual South Park cartoon. I had a lot of fun with it but, man, maybe it's because I'm older now and my sense of humor is changing, but a lot of parts of this game are just 'gross'. Don't get me wrong, I lol'd a lot, but I also cringed an equal number of times. Highly recommend! :)
Diablo III (Switch) - I remember well the infamous launch of Diablo 3. Diablo 2 was one of the defining games of my childhood and my friend and I were looking forward to this one dearly. While I didn't hate it as much as most of the community, it did not stick with me like it's predecessor did. With all the positive changes that I heard were made to the game, I was curious enough to give it another try, and I've got to say, Blizzard really did a good job of making Diablo addicting again. While running through the same campaign over and over gets a bit tiresome, the loot, skills, and endgame have all been done beautifully. Not only that, it's ridiculous how well this game runs on the Switch. It's like the game was designed from the ground up with the Switch in mind. Every time a new season started I rolled a new character and had a blast. My end-of-the-year Switch statistics told me that Diablo III ranked second in my hours played this year behind The Witcher 3.
Bastion (Switch) - Another game I own on Steam, but bought on the Switch anyway. This and many other games have sat in my Steam backlog for years but I never quite got through them. As stated previously, the ability to take my games with me anywhere (even just to the couch) made it so much easier to finish them. Bastion was a fun little game that embodies the importance of having a sexy-voiced narrator recounting all the events of the tale. If you loved this years' Hades, you will no doubt enjoy Supergiant's early attempts at storytelling and combat.
Transistor (Switch) - I went from Bastion straight into Supergiants incredibly strange cyberpunk experience. As with their previous game, I liked the narration and outstanding artwork, but I can't say I liked what they did with the combat. Part of me liked the flexibility in tweaking my build, but something about the quasi-turn based style felt a bit off to me. Not a bad game at all, but it just didn't click with me.
Lines XL (Switch) - Picked up for free with coins in the eshop. Why the F is connecting a bunch of lines so darn engaging? I'm not even a big puzzle game fan. Probably because it's easy to do while chilling on the couch watching TV. I went ahead and picked up Lines X and Lines Infinite after this one.
Borderlands 3 DLC (PC) - I picked up the season pass on sale, and what can I say? It's more Borderlands. Expect ridiculous guns, cringy jokes, and lots of fun shooty action. I don't know why so many critics hated the humor in BL3. I quite liked it. Mancubus Bloodtooth was my favorite new character.
The Last of Us Part 2 (PS4) - This was probably my most anticipated game of the year, then the leaks came out and the internet blew up. I managed to avoid spoilers, but based on everyone's reaction, my hype quickly faded. When it released and the major game journalists released their reviews, I became a bit more hopeful, but the internet came out again in full force accusing them of corporate shilling. About a month after the game came out I decided I couldn't wait any longer. After completing this game, I can confirm: The internet is full of people who just want to be pissed off about any and everything, even if they don't know why. I'm a big fan of the first game, and I thought the story in this one was fantastic. Furthermore, the combat, visuals, animation, acting, and attention to detail are at masterpiece level. This game deserves all the critical acclaim it received. My only gripes are that the second half of the game dragged on a bit too long, and the ending felt kind of empty if there does not end up being a Last of Us 3.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Switch) - I didn't quite finish this one but I put a solid 40-50 hours into it so I think it's safe to include here. I do plan on finishing it soon before Monster Hunter Rise comes out, because even though the graphics are dated and it's missing many of the modern features of World, this game is fantastic. It's got so much content that World doesn't have, with loads of cool weapons and armor. The online community is still pretty active as well.
Steamworld Dig (Switch) - A light metroidvania where you dig deeper and deeper into the Earth to mine precious metals then return to town to sell them and level up. I quite liked the gameplay loop and was able to finish in a few hours. Well worth the $2 I spent.
Gorogoa (Switch) - A unique puzzle game that has you arrange a series of pictures to reach the ending. A brief but enjoyable experience.
Doom 64 (Switch) - A true continuation of the classic Doom experience. Whether or not that's a good thing is a matter of personal opinion. I do have fond memories of classic Doom, so I played a level here and there until I finished it. However, I can't necessarily say it's a very good game from a modern standpoint, as some of the level designs are confusing and the enemies start to feel samey after a while.
Lode Runner Legacy (Switch) - The voxel graphics turned me off of buying this one sooner, but it was on a steep enough discount to entice me. Lode Runner: The Legend Returns was one of my favorite games as a child, and I was hoping for something to scratch that itch. I finished the majority of the levels, but it ultimately lacked the charm of the previous iterations.
Star Wars Squadrons (PC) - This one has earned EA a digital tip of my hat. They pulled a complete 180 from Star Wars Battlefront 2. I think the gaming community should take note of how much influence they have with social media. If a company screws up, come out in droves and let them hear it. Activision and EA are easy to hate on, but even beloved companies like Nintendo need the community to rally when they make a poor decision. In any case, it's been way too long since a great Star Wars flight sim has come out. If you miss Star Wars: X-Wing and Tie Fighter, you will not be dissapointed here. A fun little campaign and multiplayer with tight mechanics and fun cosmetic collectables (that are built into the game and require no microtransactions whatsoever).
Super Mario Galaxy (Switch) - Freakin' Nintendo and their limited release window. How could I not buy the Super Mario 3D All Stars Collection? I don't necessarily regret the purchase, but 3 old emulated games for $50 is a bit steep. With that out of the way, this was my first time playing Super Mario Galaxy, and I loved it. They did do a nice job of the making the controls work on the Switch. I haven't played Super Mario Odyssey yet either but this one got me looking forward to trying it out.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4) - The original Call of Duty had the best military FPS campaign that had ever been designed up to that point. Instead of providing the same old action-packed superhero experience, it provided a very raw, boots-on-the-ground perspective of what the horrors of war were actually like. As the years went on and Call of Duty became the juggernaut it is today, the campaigns started to lose their appeal to me. I remember reading that Infinite Warfare had one of the best CoD campaigns yet, so I didn't mind trying it from the $5 bargain bin at Gamestop. While some of CoD's traditional themes and characters are still there, the world and the story were actually quite good. The campaign even had the player exercise some choice, which I was not expecting. This was also my first experience using Remote Play from the PS4 on my phone, which worked a lot better than I expected.
The Evil Within (PC) - I thought I'd bust out a spooky game from my Steam backlog around Halloween time. The Evil Within was just good enough of a game for me to finish, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. The gameplay is a bit rough around the edges, and can't decide if it wants to be a horror game or an action game. The story and characters were also fairly forgettable.
Dead Cells (Switch) - An extremely solid rogue-like experience. Tight combat and a ton of different weapons and power-ups to unlock. I still have a ton more to do, especially since they keep updating it.
Return of the Obra Dinn (Switch) - This one had me hooked for a solid 5-6 hours straight after I started it, which is something that does not happen very often. I solved about a third of the fates during my first view of all the scenes, then backtracked a bit and solved a little over half. Then the game just hit a brick wall for me. I really did not want to keep walking back and forth throughout the ship trying to find the scene I want. I feel like this game would have been much better if there was an easy way to view all the scenes in order after you've unlocked all of them. I ended up looking up the rest of the fates online to see the end of the story.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019 campaign) (PC) - Although most people will remember this game because of Warzone, it actually had a descent campaign. It's always good to see Captain Price again, and the cutscenes had some of the best animations I've ever seen in a game. I remember my wife walking in the room and asking, "Is that real or is it a video game?"
Hades (Switch) - If there was ever an indie game that deserved a Game of the Year award, it's this one. This game puts most AAA titles to shame. Honestly, I'm not sure I can say anything that hasn't been said already. Supergiant really perfected their combat with this one, and spared no expense on top-notch dialogue and voice acting. I'm currently taking a break from grinding the endgame but I know I'll be back soon.
Blasphemous (Switch) - Outstand art direction and world-building, mediocre combat, and lame collectables. The game was just 'Dark Souls' and 'Metroidvania' enough for me to see it through to the end (I love those two genres). I was hoping that it would be more like Salt and Sanctuary, but it's probably more akin to a 2D Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. You will end up relying heavily on personal skill and learning enemy movement patterns since there is very little progression. Also, no cool weapons or armor to collect.
Celeste (Switch) - After playing the first hour I was like, "This isn't too hard at all!", then shortly after I ended up eating those words. Very cute game with likeable characters and some controller-crushing platforming. I didn't collect all the strawberries but I had a lot of fun with it.
Doom 3 (Switch) - This is Doom as a horror game rather than the action-packed experience we know today. For the time it was an okay first person shooter. Today, it's probably not worth going back to. You will spend hours walking down very similar-looking corridors, getting lost, and shooting the same enemies with the same guns.
Half Life: Alyx (PC) - As mentioned previously, Half Life 2 is tied with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as my single favorite game of all time. Even though I love Half Life, I never would think a single game would be worth purchasing a new VR headset for. However, a friend from church offered me his old Oculus Rift for a ridiculous price, and I couldn't refuse. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to play this game, and I'm twice as glad that the story was never spoiled. On top of the story, the incredibly novel gameplay and loveable characters make this an absolute must-play for anyone with a VR headset. With how cleverly this game impacts the storyline of the Half Life universe, on top of being one of the most unique gaming experiences of all time, this game takes my award for GAME OF THE YEAR. If you're a Half Life fan and can get a VR headset used/on sale, it's worth it for this game alone. Trust me, you need to play the game yourself instead of watch it. The feeling of panic while manually reloading my gun while a hoard of zombies are bearing down on me is one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had.
Bioshock (Switch) - A classic that has one of the top 5 best intros and top 5 best twists in gaming history. I've already played it multiple times in the past but I felt the urge to play it again. If you've never played it, it still holds up very well to this day.
Axiom Verge (Switch) - I remember reading an article in a gaming magazine years ago about the guy who developed this game entirely by himself. Honestly, considering this was made by one person, it's incredible. It's one of the best metroidvanias released in recent history, with some interesting mechanics and a very memorable soundtrack. I can't wait for the sequel in 2021!
GAMES I STARTED BUT DID NOT FINISH
Warcraft III Reforged (PC) - You know a remaster's a failure when you load it up for the first time and it looks almost exactly like the original. I refunded this one almost immediately. While it's somewhat cathartic to hop on the Blizzard hate train, I was genuinely looking forward to this game, and I would much rather have seen Blizzard succeed. It's heartbreaking to see what they have become.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (PC) - I plowed through 30 hours of this game in no time, then progress drastically slowed down once I started working through Act 2. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why I struggled to continue, since Act 1 was so strong and I absorbed every little detail it had to offer. It may partly be because Act 2 lacked direction. The map is quite large and littered with enemies who are far above your level, and it seemed difficult to find sufficient side quests to level up. It may also be because the story and character arcs hit a wall in Act 2. I primarily play RPG's for the story and characters, and without any meaningful developments to keep me going, other games started to become more interesting. Part of me wants to go back and see this through to the end, but I'm not sure I'll ever have the time. Maybe if I pick it up on Switch...
Outer Wilds (PC) - I bought this game on sale after hearing so many good things about it in 2019. It may be that I didn't give this game enough time to "click", but after a couple hours of play, I couldn't find the motivation to keep pushing through. The lack of dialogue made the worlds feel lifeless, and I wasn't interested enough in the mystery to try and solve it. Also, the flight controls really wore me down. I know the solar system is meant to mimic real-life physics, and I would probably get better at it with more practice, but spending 10 minutes trying to chase a planet down doesn't fit my definition of fun. If I should go back and give this game another shot, please convince me in the comments below!
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PC) - I love the Souls games. I beat all three Dark Souls and Bloodborne multiple times. They were tough but I always found a way to overcome their challenges. I could not, however, bring myself to finish this game. Mere mini bosses have attack patterns that would take way too long to memorize. The game required constant focus that stressed me out way more than it needed to. I knew when it came out that this game was almost nothing like Dark Souls, which is why it took my a while to hop onboard. Once I finally got my hands on it, I felt no regrets waiting to get it on deep discount.
Silent Hill Homecoming (PS3) - Oh boy. I knew going into this to keep expectations low. I'm a big fan of the mainline Silent Hill games so I wanted to at least try this. It's a decent action horror game, but a poor Silent Hill game. The combat system feels very out of the place, some of the puzzles are a pain, and the experience was riddled with bugs. I played about half of it then watched the rest on YouTube.
Cave Story+ (Switch) - This may be the original indie darling, which is why I've heard so many positive reviews about it. I hate to say it but it doesn't hold up in comparison to the quality of modern day indies. It's definitely not a bad game but it didn't do enough to hold my interest.
Grimvalor (Mobile) - I was looking for something to play on a new phone I bought this year, and this little guy came up with good reviews. As a fan of the Souls series, I enjoyed the basic attack/dodge loop of combat. However, it didn't quite have the meat to keep me engaged longer than a few hours. I watched a speedrunner finish the rest of the game on YouTube and I don't necessarily regret putting it down. It's a shame that a mediocre game like this one can rate so highly on Mobile, since the bar has been set so low by a mountain of games that are utter trash.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) - Okay hear me out. I agree with everyone who admonishes this game as one of the greatest of all time. The art style, sounds, story, and charm are still top notch to this day. However, I may be one of the most impatient gamers alive. It's very hard for me to stay engaged with a game when I don't know what to do or where to go next, particularly with some of the less obvious puzzles in the dungeons. The Sheikah Stones would have been much more helpful if they were more accessible. I kept pushing for a little while but my playtime dwindled until I decided it was finally time to hang it up. You may go ahead and shred my gamer card now if you like.
Trials Rising (Switch) - This one was a surprise hit for me this year. I remember playing games like Trials on Flash over 15 years ago, so I thought I'd give this a try. I really need to give credit to the level design and art team. Each level has it's own unique backdrops, the creativity is through the roof, and the physics are spot on. And getting absolutely destroyed at every finish line never failed to put a smile on my face. The reason I didn't finish is because some of the later levels were just way too hard. It's probably because I purchased the game on Switch and the triggers are buttons instead of levers, so I wasn't able to adjust my acceleration properly.
Final Fantasy VII (PS1) - Dangit y'all, I tried. The Final Fantasy VII remake got me itching for more stories in the Final Fantasy VII universe, but this game was just too hard for me to go back to without nostalgia goggles. It's not a bad game, but just a bit too rough around the edges from a 2020 standpoint. I played about 20 hours then watched a YouTuber play the rest of the game so I could experience the story (which gets freakin weird about 3/4 of the way through).
Cyberpunk 2077 (PC) - Oh CD Projekt, I really want to play and love your game. But when dead bodies are flailing about on the ground, NPC's are stuck in animations, and pieces of furniture start randomly exploding, I'm going to have to let you sit in the oven a little longer before I try you again. There's definitely a great game in here but man if this wasn't the cherry on top of 2020.
GAMES THAT I DABBLED IN/GAMES THAT ARE NEVER "FINISHED"
Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Switch) - I spent some time unlocking all the fighters, dabbling in the World of Light, and playing with a friend. I'm blown away by how much effort they put into this game to make sure all the fans of previous games were happy. Honestly, it just made me a bit sad that Pokemon's development team doesn't have the same passion. If the Pokemon team put in half as much effort as the Smash team, Pokemon Sword/Shield may have been the greatest Pokemon games of all time. Sadly that wasn't the case, and I hope they turn things around.
Legends of Runeterra (PC/Mobile) - Ever since Hearthstone went into open beta, a week had not gone by that I had not played at least a few matches. That is, until Legends of Runeterra. Although Legends of Runeterra did not grip me the same way Hearthstone did, the wonderful art and presentation were able to draw me in in a way that Magic The Gathering Arena and the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online could not. For those unfamiliar, it's basically the offspring between Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone. It's more complex than Hearthstone, but still simple enough that my little brain can grasp the primary mechanics and card interactions. I did spend a little bit of money on it, but never felt I had to in order to progress.
Hearthstone (PC/Mobile) - Okay, I know I just bragged on Legends of Runeterra, but I still have a soft spot for Hearthstone's Arena mode. Whenever they rotated new cards into Arena, I would hop back in for a while to check it out. Or maybe I just wanted to relive the glory days of the expansions from 2014-2015. Man those were awesome times. I also dabbled in Battlegrounds which was pretty fun.
Pokemon Trading Card Game Online (PC/Mobile) - The mechanics in the Pokemon trading card game are so unique from other TCG offerings that it got me to come back every so often. And of course, who doesn't love Pokemon. But man, I wish this game didn't look like a high schooler designed it in Flash. The gameplay is great but what on Earth is keeping Game Freak from capitalizing on this app? Do they know how many people would dump money into it if they spent just a little bit of time polishing and advertising it? Seriously, this is easy money right here.
Call of Duty: Mobile (Mobile) - For over a decade I've detested the mobile gaming market. Everything about mobile games represents what I hate most about what the industry has become: quick cash grabs, relentess greed, and a landfill of low-quality games that would make even Atari's E.T. wretch. To be honest, I don't even know why I tried Call of Duty Mobile; perhaps it was just curiosity because I do enjoy CoD multiplayer. I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I was elated to play all of my favorite maps from CoD games of old, and using an XBox controller linked with bluetooth, I would spend hours wrecking shop. Some people may be getting tired of Battle Passes, but I love that I can play the entire game for free. I actually bought the Battle Pass a couple times because I wanted to support the developers.
tl;dr Half Life Alyx wins my personal pick for Game of the Year, although if I were to be totally objective, I think Hades deserves it the most. I would give Final Fantasy VII Remake a very close runner-up. And the Nintendo Switch may be my favorite console of all time.
So 2020 has been a sucky year to say the least, but it ended up being a great year in gaming for me; I was working minimally from March to August so I got to game a ton. I’ve seen a few of these years in gaming and decided to do my own. Here’s every game I finished this year in roughly the order I played them. I started rating them but ended up not because I usually don’t play games that I don’t fall in love with and all of them were highly rated and opted for mini reviews. If they’re on this list, I consider them worth playing! Also included games that I bought, started, and didn’t finish; feel free to tell me I’m wrong and that I should go back and play them! I will preface it with that I pretty much exclusively play single player games and I love a game with a good story. Spiderman PS4 Got this game for Christmas last year and my god is web slinging fun! The controls are super smooth, the combat is great, and the story is not bad at all. All superhero games should aspire to be this good. Bioshock Remastered PS4 When PS Plus gave away the Bioshock collection I was super excited to play this one. The remaster looks great; it was a great game back when it came out and it still is a great game today. One of the greatest games of the PS3 era, go play it at all costs. Borderlands 3 PS4 While technically I got this when it came out in 2019, I was playing this well into the new year with all the DLCs coming out. I’m really divided on this one; when it launched I was super excited as I’m a huge Borderlands fan, but the game was super buggy at launch, the story sucked, and the campaign was broken up by the infamous talk to Lilith. They’ve since patch it up and it runs better but my PS4 pro will overheat and turn itself off during the battle for DLC3. That’s the bad, but the good is that all 4 of the DLCs have much better stories (even if DLC4 is really short) than the base game. The game also makes lots of quality of life improvements on its predecessor and has tons of replay value in the end game content and they’re still adding more. If you liked Borderlands 2, you’ll probably like this one, if you don’t you can probably skip this one. Horizon: Zero Dawn PS4 I absolutely loved this game. It's a really beautiful game with a refreshingly original story and gorgeous scenery. They do an excellent job of world building. The combat is super fun and it's very satisfying taking down the monsters. At the current price, it's a must buy in my opinion. Psychonauts PS4 I saw this on the store and it brought back great memories of my childhood playing this on the original xbox. It’s one of the weirdest 3D platformers out there and I mean that in the best possible way. You play as a child in a summer camp for kids with psychic powers and while the game is a bit slow to get going (the early levels are a bit boring) you end up going into and exploring other characters’ minds. Super weird, super fun. A hidden gem for sure. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves remastered PS4 When they gave away the uncharted collection I immediately booted up this one, it still has one of the best beginnings of any game ever. The gunplay and platforming hold up well and are very fun. Every uncharted game is great, but this one is my favorite. Journey PS4 Wow was I not ready for this game. It's simply a beautiful game that really makes you feel a lot in it's short playtime, all without any dialogue or text. Ratchet and Clank PS4 It’s been years since I played a Ratchet and Clank game and this one checked all the boxes that a Ratchet and Clank game should. Decent platforming, zany guns, and memorable characters. I remember the old ones having more replay value than this one did but maybe that’s just the nature of memory. Still, I had fun. Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch I saw on someone else’s post that this was a game of the times and I certainly agree. I was stuck home at the beginning of quarantine and this was the perfect game to just turn on and get lost in. It was very fun to see tons of old friends playing this and exchange friend codes, especially people I don’t normally game with. We had group chats going to buy and sell turnips. Some of my friends are STILL playing this! Me personally, I put it down after paying off my last mortgage and terraforming my island to my satisfaction. I’ve heard that there’s tons of new content added all the time so for anyone who has yet to play, now's as good of a time as any to buy it. Tomb Raider Definitive Edition PS4 I got this for like $2.99 or something when it was discounted so I wasn’t expecting a lot, but man was I pleasantly surprised. The story is kinda weak, but it plays like an off brand Uncharted game, which I mean in a good way. If it’s discounted, don’t hesitate, I got more than my money’s worth out of it. Rise of the Tomb Raider PS4 Bought this immediately after finishing the first one. Of course the next month they gave it away on PS Plus but oh well. Anyway, this game is pretty good, it improves on the first in every way; better story, better controls, better graphics. Think Uncharted with light RPG elements. Waiting for Shadow of the Tomb Raider to go onsale Detroit: Become Human PS4 This one was a sleeper; I got it on PS Plus a while ago but had never heard of it and never played it until quarantine had me going through all my games looking for something to play. I’m a huge fan of Telltale games and Heavy Rain (I didn’t know this was the same developer) so this was right up my alley. The dialogue and voice acting is spot on, if you’ve enjoyed any of the choose your own adventure type games, this is a must; I haven’t been so drawn in by a story in a while. I even played it a second time! A nice tidbit, one of the main characters is voiced by and modeled after Jesse Williams, who apparently is a character on Grey’s Anatomy, which was my girlfriend’s quarantine obsession so it was a cool collision of worlds, she also got sucked into the story after hearing his voice while I was playing. The Last of Us Part II PS4 The game I was most excited for in 2020 and the first game I’ve gone against my patient gamer tendency and preordered in years. A masterpiece of gaming in my opinion. Everything is just so good; from the story to the gameplay to the voice acting and motion capture. Don’t believe the hate, this was not just the best game I played in 2020 but all generation. I don’t have words to explain my praise for this game, just go play it. Paper Mario: The Origami King Switch The second most anticipated game of 2020 for me! I was gifted this for my birthday when it came out. As a fan of the Paper Mario series, it was a bit of a mixed bag for me; the overworld is large, colorful, and full of charm. The battle system, however, is weird, confusing, and just not that fun, even after you get the hang of it. The characters were not as rich and memorable as in The Thousand Year Door (one of my favorite games of all time) and the boss fights were annoying instead of challenging. Still, I had a fun time. Bug Fables Switch After playing The Origami King, I had a hankering for that old magic turn based adventure. While this isn’t The Thousand Year Door, it did scratch that itch better than The Origami King. The combat system is classic Paper Mario and the characters are fun, my only complaint being that no one seems to know they’re made of paper! I feel like folding up into an airplane or a tube was part of the charm of the old games, but I digress. If you’re a fan of the Paper Mario games or of turn based RPGs, this is a no brainer. Call of Duty WWII PS4 Another PS Plus freebie that I would not have played if it wasn’t given to me for “free.” I haven’t played a Call of Duty game since I think Modern Warfare 2 and I don’t really play online multiplayer games but I played the campaign and was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. I guess there’s something timeless about shooting Nazis. The voice acting and sound were excellent and for a genre (WWII games) that’s been done to death, it tells a decently compelling story. If you claimed it, might as well play it. Super Hot PS4 My roommate at the time bought this when it came out years ago and I remembered it being fun so when I saw it discounted I bought it. I’ve got to say, Super Hot is the most innovative shooter I've played in years! The concept is pretty simple; time only moves when you move, meaning it’s one part first-person shooter, one part puzzle game where you’ve got to kill all the bad dudes before they kill you. The single player game is short and essentially story-less, but the gameplay is fun and there are tons of challenges to do. Once quarantine is over, it’d be a fun game to pass the controller back and forth with friends. Doom 2016 PS4 Another game I slept on but bought because my old roommate had played it and it looked cool. This is the monster energy drink equivalent of a video game if there ever was one, just balls to the wall action the whole time. Killing demons has never been as satisfying. There are a few platforming sections that aren’t fun because first person platforming is hardly ever fun but that doesn't detract from the overall experience, this is a great game. I bought Doom Eternal when it was onsale and it’s in my backlog, I’m excited for it. Bioshock Infinite PS4 I also played this one around when it came out or shortly after, but I didn’t remember a thing about it other than that I liked it. And I liked it again! The first Bioshock is more of a horror game while this one is a straight up shooter, which isn’t to say it’s bad, just different. The setting is really what shines in this game, along with the story, even if the ending is a little confusing. I also had never played the Buried at Sea story DLCs that tie Infinite to the original so that was really a treat. Skyrim PS4 I love Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls in general. I go back and play some Skyrim at least once a year and I logged more hours in Skyrim then some of the other games on this list so I decided it was only fair to include it. Can’t say enough about this game. One of my all time favorites. Dishonored PS4 I picked up the Dishonored Collection of 1, 2 and Death of the Outsider when it was discounted. Side note: I bought and played this game back in 2016 and thought I had finished it and subsequently sold it off, only to go back to find out I never finished it! Anyway, I replayed the whole game and it holds up very well despite its age. The art style is very cool and the environments are really awesome, it’s a lot of fun to combine powers to reach rooftops or tackle the same situation a multiple of different ways. I read up on it and apparently when it was in the testing stage, rather than limit the player’s powers if they found an exploit, they redesigned levels to accommodate it which I just think is just really cool. I played the whole game stealthily without killing anyone for the low chaos ending, but you could easily go slashing and shooting your way through every level and have lots of fun. It also came with the DLC, which I also played and thoroughly enjoyed. Looking forward to playing 2 and Death of the Outsider. The following games I am currently playing. Wolfenstein: The New Order PS4 I’m currently playing this one and am loving it. I’ve never played a Wolfenstein game but after playing Doom 2016 I was craving more Bethesda shooters and this one was cheap and sounded interesting. Again, something timeless about shooting Nazis! This one is set in 1960, in an alternate history where the Nazis developed advanced weaponry and won WWII, you play as a resistance fighter. Very cool so far. My only complaint is that sometimes it's not clear what you're supposed to do. Borderlands 1 PS4 I already owned and played this one, but I convinced my brother who’s a casual gamer on Switch to buy this (on Switch) and we talk on the phone and play “together” doing the same missions and what not which is nice because I haven’t seen him in months what with the pandemic. I will say, after playing Borderlands 2 and 3, this one feels really dated and doesn’t hold up as well as other games, specifically Bioshock which came out two years earlier. It’s not the graphics I’m hung up on because I don’t really care about how a game looks as long as it plays well but they made so many improvements to the gameplay in 2 and then again in 3 that it feels clunky. The guns handle weirdly, there’s essentially no story or dialogue unless you’re reading all the text boxes, and everything is so spread out as to feel like it’s just padding its length. I suppose if it’s your first Borderlands title it’s not bad, but you could skip it and go right to 2 and be no worse off. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Switch My brother convinced me to buy this one when it was discounted for $15 and I really expecting a stupid, lousy game. But what I found instead was a rich turn based battle game with a charming, if not silly, story. Pretty much all Nintendo games are solid, if not excellent, so maybe I should have expected more. We thought we could play online together but turns out you can only play local coop which is super lame in this day and age but Nintendo has always been about playing in person and their online system leaves a lot to be desired. If you have a switch and see this discounted, don’t hesitate, I’m really happy with my purchase. If you’re still with me at this point… thanks! Here are some games I started but didn’t like enough to finish. The Evil Within PS4 I bought this game because I loved Resident Evil 4 and thought I’d love this as it’s by the same people. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for this at all. My biggest issue with the game is that you move so freaking slow. Maybe that’s an atmospheric thing to add to the horror but it’s a pet peeve of mine, I like to get around quickly in games. Which brings me to my second issue (Which is totally on me and can be a good thing depending on who you are) with the game… it’s downright terrifying, I was on the edge of my couch the whole time. So maybe that’s a good thing for you! Last complaint is that it is pretty hard and I only put it on medium because I had heard that it was a hard game. I consider myself pretty good at most games but I just wasn’t having fun being chainsawed over and over. Don’t let me put you off to this game, if you like all those things, it could be the game for you. Dying Light PS4 I really wanted to like this game but just couldn’t. The parkour system is super cool and fun once you get the hang of it, but that’s about all I liked about the game. The voice acting was awful, the weapons broke super easily without being easy to find, and the zombies were sponges. Maybe it was just the beginning of the game but I found it unnecessarily hard, frustrating, and not fun. Hitman PS4 This sounded super fun on paper what with several ways to approach a mission but in execution I found it very frustrating. Maybe I just suck at it but in my opinion, if you want a fun stealth game, play Dishonored. Persona 5 PS4 I heard great things about this game, but it just wasn't for me. Maybe I just don't like JRPGs? I played for like 10 hours and still felt like I was nowhere... I then looked up how long to beat it and it was over 100 hours! No wonder I felt like I was still in the intro. I was not prepared for that long of a game. Prey (2017) PS4 I'm not sure why I put this one down. The atmosphere was super cool. I think I remember enemies being really hard to kill but I could be wrong. After reading a lot of positive talk about it on the Dishonored subreddit, I'm going to give it another shot eventually. Vampyr PS4 I got this from PS Plus in the fall and figured it was worth a shot what with it being near Halloween and all. It had pretty decent reviews but I can't understand why, the controls felt so poor I thought I was playing a bad PS2 game. I only played about an hour. Please convince me otherwise. Death Stranding PS4 Might get some hate for this but to me, it’s the most overhyped game of 2020. A friend bought it for me because she doesn't own a playstation and wanted to see it so I'm not too mad about it, but the game is just not fun to me. I streamed maybe 10 hours of the game for her before I refused to play anymore. Looks beautiful, story and setting are interesting, but to me. it's just a game of fetch quests, an extreme mailman simulator. No thanks. The Witcher 3 PS4 Another game I might get some hate for, but I just couldn’t get into this one either. As a huge Elder Scrolls fan, I was expecting something along the lines of a third person Skyrim. My main issue was the cut scenes and dialog, there was just so much of it! I really felt like it bogged down the overall experience, but that’s just my opinion. I played for maybe five hours or so before putting it down. If you read this far, wow thanks for reading all that! That was my year in gaming, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these games, especially ones I didn't finish. Stay safe and happy holidays!
PlayStation Studios: List of Confirmed, Leaked, Rumored Games
Due to current lack of notable news regarding the PlayStation 5 and how long it passed since a detailed overview on SIE's current and future line of games here, I decided to lump all them together and gather all notable information, confirmations, reports and rumors we've been hearing over the past 2-3 years. There are so many repetitive question posts, console warring and the like. So consider this just a nice little ('little') post to go through until we'll have new stuff and interesting news in the coming weeks. I hope this will be informative and organized enough. In case you have more sources, links, credible tweets and the like, don't hesitate to share them so they can be added to this list.
SIE Worldwide Studios - Projects
Naughty Dog After over three years of anticipation, fears, doubts, delays and controversies, Naughty Dog finally released The Last of Us Part II back in June to critical acclaim and high sales.
Naughty Dog's next big project still seems to be lightyears away, and according to vice president and creative director Neil Druckmann mentioned in a June interview with him that at the time he is still unsure what will be Naughty Dog's next project; it could be a third installment in The Last of Us franchise, or it could be an entirely new IP - which would be ND's first new IP since the original The Last of Us in 2013.
Naughty Dog has been reported (and later confirmed in a tweet) to be working on a successor to "Factions", the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us. The Last of Us Part II was Naughty Dog's first game since Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007) to not include a multiplayer mode at launch, partly to focus most of the resources into the single-player campaign, and partly to fully realize Factions' own ambitions as its own thing. Recently, we also had leaked footage of what appears to be the game in progress.
Finally, and take this with a massive grain of salt given the source, a post originating on 4Chan and later getting reposted on both Reddit and ResetEra claims that Naughty Dog is already working on a new IP, tentatively called Stray's Cross. This game is rumored to be some post-apocalyptic, Steampunk title with first-person perspective, a departure from Naughty Dog's usual third-perspective style. The rumor also mentions that the two leads are a female scientist and a male fugitive. An even earlier rumor (dates to October 2018) by a man called Daniel Richtman (who is apparently correct with his leaks on entertainment stuff) mentions details of one of the leads' casting preferences, of a black/African-American man in his 40's-60's, with a picture of The Walking Dead actor Chad Coleman. Whether this casting refers to the new IP (whose 4Chan rumor came a year later), or something TLOU-related remains to be seen.
Insomniac Games At the time of this post's writing, Insomniac Games is the most recent member of the SIE Worldwide Studios, having been acquired in 2019 after decades of close relationship with Sony and the PlayStation. Having shipped 2018's Spider-Man to critical acclaim and extremely strong sales, Insomniac Games was one of the first studios to have its rumored PS5 projects shown in June's Future of Gaming event.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales were unveiled during the Future of Gaming event. The former has been either speculated or rumored for a while and is built around the PlayStation 5's SSD to allow its unique dimension-hopping design, and features new playable character in addition to series protagonist Ratchet. The latter is a standalone spin-off to 2018's Spider-Man and has been compared in scope and style to Naughty Dog's Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Miles Morales was also said to be a "complete story" and character arc, and offers a performance mode of 4K / 60 FPS.
Miles Morales, however, is not the only Spider-Man game in works it seems. The first game left several open plot threads for a more proper sequel, and Insomniac Games recently promised that they have plenty to tell regarding Peter's story.
Also just to clear some things about Sunset Overdrive and an hypothetical sequel: Insomniac Games stated they would love making a sequel for the game. As of 2019, Sony - having acquired Insomniac (who owns the rights for the IP) - is now the owner of the Sunset Overdrive IP. However, former SIE Worldwide Studios head Shawn Layden said that the IP is not a priority for Sony at the time of the interview. Whether this will change or has changed after Layden's departure is to be seen.
Guerrilla Games Guerrilla Games experienced some sort of new breakthrough with the PS4 generation, releasing the beloved Horizon Zero Dawn to great success and creating the acclaimed Decima game engine which was used for Until Dawn (2015) and Death Stranding (2019) in addition to Horizon and 2013's Killzone Shadow Fall.
Horizon Forbidden West was speculated & rumored for a while and was all but confirmed before its full announcement in the Future of Gaming event. It was rumored to have originally started as a PlayStation 4 project before shifting away entirely to Sony's upcoming console. It is slated for a 2021 release and will feature new Machines to take on.
This might be a given, but another pre-announcement report claims that the IP has evolved into a trilogy and Horizon III is all but guaranteed at some point after the second game's launch.
It also seems that Guerrilla Games is working on another project outside the Horizon series (or maybe related to them?); as early as May 2018, the studio has began recruiting for a new unannounced game, which was about to begin full production. It could very well line up with the aforementioned Forbidden West, but perhaps also with another IP. By October of the same year, Guerrilla amassed talent of Rainbow Six: Siege veterans, among them is director Simon Larouche, who previously worked on the universally acclaimed Killzone 2 (2009). The obvious identity of that game might be a new Killzone game, but some rumors claim the game in question is a revival of SOCOM (which otherwise is said to be developed by SIE San Diego).
Sucker Punch Productions Sucker Punch Productions just shipped its latest game Ghost of Tsushima so it seems like their next project is still years away. In comparison to some of Sony's other studios, it's a somewhat smaller team, with less than 200 employees. Either way, Ghost of Tsushima's ridiculously high sales and positive reception prove they're not going anywhere.
The most obvious candidate to Sucker Punch's next game would be a sequel to Ghost of Tsushima. There is little to say about it that is not speculation, but it is a very likely project to tackle after Ghost of Tsushimasold over 2.4 million copies in three days, becoming Sony's fastest-selling PS4 IP. It should be noted that the Mongol invasion of Japan resumed in 1281), which could be used as the setting of a sequel.
Elsewhere, Sucker Punch renewing the domain of the InFamous site sparked some speculation about the studio returning to its previous series.
Finally, perhaps Sucker Punch will choose to expand on Prophecy, the intriguing tech demo/unreleased game whose footage was leaked during July 2020 and was developed around 2014.
Polyphony Digital Sony's resident racing game studio, Polyphony Digital is dedicated to the Gran Turismo series. And this isn't going to change any time soon in my opinion. The studio's latest release was 2017's Gran Turismo, which despite being the lowest-rated title in the main franchise, was still a major commercial success and gradually received warmer reception as Polyphony added new content.
Gran Turismo 7, obviously. Even before its official announcement, the game was heavily rumored and its logo was even accidentally leaked back in May 2020. Current release date is unknown.
PixelOpus This is gonna be a brief one. PixelOpus is Sony's smallest internal studio, and to this date only shipped two games since its inception in 2014. The latest one was 2019's Concrete Genie, which got favorable reviews even if it wasn't a massive sales story. Whatever the studio is working on nowadays remains a mystery, as they finished support for their latest title. Media Molecule Media Molecule is Sony's most unique studio in terms of its projects, aiming to push player creativity and interactions more than any other developer under its umbrella. After nearly a decade, the team finally released its latest project Dreams in February 2020 as yet another critically acclaimed platform for creators and designers.
It feels obvious that Media Molecule will primarily focus on Dreams for a while, which in the past was said to be designed for support for a decade and even more. They recently added VR support to the game and creative Mark Healey mentioned that a PlayStation 5 edition of Dreams is the "next big step".
It's currently unknown if Media Molecule is involved in some capacity in Sumo Digital's continuation of its LittleBigPlanet franchise, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, announced during the Future of Gaming event. It should be noted that the studio was involved in LittleBigPlanet 3's early development, which was also primarily developed by Sumo Digital.
SIE Japan Studio SIE Japan Studio is Sony's biggest studio and its flagship development place. It is a wild card responsible for multiple games of different genres, styles and scope, and tends to collaborate with other developers just as much as it develops its own in-house productions. Some of its most notable games during the PS4 generation include Gravity Rush 2, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and the Knack duology, as well as co-productions on Bloodborne, The Last Guardian and Shadow of the Colossus remake.
Current known projects include Astro's Playroom (developed by ASOBI Team) as a pre-installed game for the PlayStation 5 and the heavily rumored Demon's Souls remake in co-production with Bluepoint Games, both were unveiled during the Future of Gaming event in June 2020. The former will serve as a presentation of the DualSense controller, and was recently shown by game presenter and gaming personality Geoff Keighley; the latter was said to offer two performance modes based on fidelity or frame rate. Astro's Playroom will launch with the PlayStation 5 during Holiday 2020; no release window for Demon's Souls has been provided.
Due to the nature of this studio it's unknown what else they're working on aside from a few speculations and rumors. Back in January 2017, right around the release of Gravity Rush 2, creative director Keiichiro Toyama (Silent Hill 1, Siren, Gravity Rush) mentioned he'll begin a new project after GR2, while everyone's favorite smiling executive Shuhei Yoshida mentioned that SIE Japan is working on multiple games yet to be announced.
The biggest rumor surrounding this studio is Silent Hill. The rumor apparently dates back to ResetEra, where user KatharsisT claimed that a new game is in development with the aforementioned Toyama as well as series artist Masahiro Ito and series composer Akira Yamaoka, a claim which was apparently verified by the mods there. A fellow 'insider'/'leaker'/whatever you like called Dusk Golem (who got himself caught in controversy recently but I'm sure the majority of you are aware of it) later claimed that it is internally developed by SIE Japan Studio as part of a licensing deal between Sony and Konami. Given Dusk's recent behavior, whether you want to continue to believe his addition to the rumors is up to you.
While from the leaks it sounds like Toyama will be very busy for the coming years, he expressed his desire to make a third Gravity Rush game, though it will likely wait for the now-announced PlayStation 5.
In December 2017, SIE Japan was noted to have trademarked something called Ray Space. What exactly this game is, is unknown. But apparently it's a very ambitious science-fiction game with rumors and hints dating all the way back to 2014.
SIE Bend Studio After over a decade of working on handheld titles, Bend Studio finally returned to home console AAA development with 2019's Days Gone. It didn't get the rave reviews some other big Sony games got, but players absolutely loved it and the game proved to be a surprise hit with pretty solid sales for a new IP by a somewhat obscure team.
Days Gone ended with a sequel hook, so it's likely that their next project would be a sequel. As of October 2019, the studio was already working on pre-production of their next title and began recruiting new talent. By April 2020, the studio was still recruiting new talent for their next project.
SIE Santa Monica Santa Monica Studio stands as one of Sony's most acclaimed teams, and is responsible for God of War. After a very uncertain time between 2011 and 2016, including the disappointing results of 2013's God of War: Ascension, lay-offs and the cancellation of an ambitious sci-fi IP, the studio found its footing again with 2018's reimagined God of War, ushering a new dawn on the once-troubled studio.
Let's get this out the way; a fifth God of War game is inevitable. The game has a few open plot threads and is ripe for an even grander sequel after the smashing success in reviews and sales. Hell, director Cory Barlog even said he has ideas for five more games. Cory also suggested he would NOT direct the next game, and a tweet by him from January 2020 mentioned Eric Williams; is he gonna be the director of the next game?
As for other projects, it's been hinted that an entirely new game is in works at SIE SM. Cory already mentioned that he pitched (couldn't find the original tweet, it's buried under two years of tweets and retweets) a new idea to Sony, and since then we've been given cryptic tweets and other hints about this mystery title. Film director Duncan Jones tweeted about what's next for Barlog, and Barlog himself dropped some weird tweet that caused wild speculation. Either way, SIE SM apparently assembles a second team.
SIE London Studio SIE London primarily focuses on experiences revolving around the PlayStation brand's different applications and accessories. However, after years of being in the background, the studio got the spotlight upon delivering Blood & Truth, a VR shooter that shocked everyone thanks to its quality and production values.
SIE London already began recruiting for a new project by late 2019. As with Blood & Truth, this title is likely to be VR-based. Given the way Blood & Truth sets itself up (see the pattern here?), a sequel is very likely to happen.
SIE San Diego Studio Like Polyphony Digital, San Diego is best known for doing one flagship series, MLB: The Show, though unlike the former San Diego Studio has ventured into other IPs in a more frequent rate.
MLB: The Show 21 is obviously coming in 2021, though the most interesting aspect about it thus far is that starting with this entry, all future MLB titles will be multiplatform as a result of a new contract between Sony and the MLB association. So expect to see those future games on Xbox and likely the Switch as well.
Also, remember that SOCOM title from Guerilla's part? There is some speculation that the actual developer of the title is not Guerrilla, but San Diego Studio. Given the studio's relatively recent relocation to a new building and a slight revamp to their logo, the studio might work on a new project separated from the MLB series; their last non-MLB games were released in 2017 as collaborations with third-party studios, so there is a notable gap here.
Sony's Secret Studio in San Diego More or less an open secret by now, Sony founded a new development studio in San Diego circa 2018, within the Visual Art Studio Group of Sony. And for the past two years, it's been recruiting talent from various places, including ex-Naughty Dog environment artist Zack Oliver and Red Dead Redemption 2 senior animator James Martinchek, with senior game designer Quentin Cobb apparently leading the team.
Their first game's identity is yet to be confirmed, though from what I've seen the chief speculation is an Uncharted continuation. The only things we know right now is that the game is probably a third-person action/adventure game and will be in collaboration with another Sony-owned studio.
External Developers - Confirmed, Announced Games
With the exception of Wild, the following titles were announced during Sony's Future of Gaming event.
Demon's Souls remake (TBC) - Bluepoint Games (Shadow of the Colossus remake) in collaboration with SIE Japan Studio (co-developer of the original game and the provider of the original pitch)
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (TBC) - Sumo Digital (LittleBigPlanet 3): A successor to the LittleBigPlanet featuring protagonist Sackboy in a 3D platform style in contrast to the original series' focus on 2.5D levels. Will include co-op mode.
Destruction AllStars (TBC) - Lucid Games (Travel Bug, PlayStation Vita Pets: Puppy Parlour): A vehicular combat video game with apparent focus on multiplayer. Trailer indicates arena fights in which the player can fight on foot in addition to using a vehicle.
Returnal (TBC) - Housemarque (Super Stardust, Dead Nation, Resogun, Alienation, Matterfall): A third-person shootesurvival-horrorougelike title which features an astronaut on a hostile alien planet, stuck in a time loop that relapses every time she dies. The studio had a pretty rough time in recent years, with a decision to stray away from their traditional arcade shooters due to the genre's lackluster footnote in sales. The studio announced its plans to work on an AAA project and licensed the Unreal Engine 4 for the project, putting its other project on hold. It will make extensive use of the DualSense's features.
Wild (TBC) - Wild Sheep Studio: Sony's ambitious yet uncertain survival game was announced all the way back to Gamescom 2014, but has been missing ever since. The latest we heard about the game was regarding some old art resurfacing this year a few months ago. Whether the project has been scrapped or moved to PlayStation 5 is unknown at the time of this writing.
External Developers - Confirmed, Unannounced Games
Impulse Gear, developer of the VR shooter Farpoint, is hiring for its next VR project, said to "redefine AAA VR gaming". Whether this new project is partnered with Sony as a publisher is unknown.
Kojima Productions which developed 2019's Death Stranding has secured enough funding for their next project thanks to their first project's commercial performance, though a recent project has been shafted. Studio head and game director Hideo Kojima expressed his desire to work on a horror game after Death Stranding, and was in talks with actor Norman Reedus (previously collaborated on both the cancelled Silent Hills and Death Stranding) for a future project. Kojima also expressed that he wants to work on a VR game, but at the time of that statement he was not free enough to pursue that project. It's unknown if Kojima's next project will be partnered with Sony as publisher.
------
While Other Ocean Emeryville shot down rumors about a remake of MediEvil 2 (originally developed by the now-defunct Guerrilla Cambridge), the composer of the first game's 2019 remake noted that the game did well commercially. Whether it will manage to warrant a continuation remains unknown.
Sanzaru Gamesexpressed desire to work on a fifth Sly Cooper and finally resolve the cliffhanger of 2013's Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, though they confirmed in December 2019 that they were not working on the project and said that fans should let Sony know they want another game. If a fifth game will ever get made, however, it won't longer come from Sanzaru, which was acquired by Facebook in February 2020.
Ready at Dawn likewise expressed their own desire to make a sequel for its 2015 polarizing game The Order: 1886. And just like Sanzaru, chances for a continuation by the developer are close to zero with the acquisition by Facebook in June 2020. It should be noted that rumors about a sequel to The Order IP formed in January 2020. If such project indeed existed, its current situation is uncertain.
FromSoftware president and creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki said back in late 2019 that his favorite game to work on was 2015's Bloodborne. However he also more or less stated that Bloodborne 2 has yet to be materialized and he is "not the one to decide" about its future. It should be noted that Miyazaki is currently busy with Elden Ring.
Beyond what's written here, there have been many, many rumors, speculations and other stuff about other Sony-related projects: Rumors about Sony acquiring the likes of Kojima Productions or Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne, Alan Wake, Control). Rumors about an unannounced multiplayer-focused game by Remedy for the PlayStation 5. Rumors about Bloodborne and Dreams coming to PC alongside God of War and the Uncharted PS3 trilogy. Rumors about Horizon Forbidden West including a co-op mode. A fake 'leak' about Spider-Man 2's plot and gameplay details. Rumors about Kojima making up with Konami to revive Silent Hills. Rumors about Sony acquiring Konami's top three IPs. Etc, etc. I did like the rumor about Castlevania getting a Bloodborne-esque revival. That's it for now. If you guys have any other substantial or reliable information to add to the post; some worthwhile rumors or leaks, don't hesitate to share so I can update, correct and improve this list.
What games do you recommend for couch multiplayer / splitscreen?
I started gaming in the 80s, NES/Famicom with family was always great. I liked sleeping over at friends and play together on the same console/screen. That was a big thing until the PS2 era, after that online multiplayer really went through the roof. I feel like a lot of PS3 games still have local multiplayer support, but as far as I can see, that got mostly abandoned with the PS4. Here's some of my favourite splitscreen/local multiplayer games on PS3: - Driver San Francisco (there are not many open world racing games with splitscreen) - Disney Infinity (one of the few where you can play the campaigns with 2 players, e.g. Star Wars and PiratesotC, also open world) - Lego games (my kids play Lego Marvel Super Heroes in splitscreen open world all the time) - GT5 (karting is so much fun) I'll go through my collection and check, I'll post some more. Sports games are obvious, but do you have any more suggestions for fun local multiplayesplitscreen games I could play with my family or friends?
Welcome to /Utawarerumono, a subreddit for discussing and sharing things about Leaf's visual novel and anime series, Utawarerumono. We're glad to have you here! Please make sure you mark your spoilers, and try to link to the sources for artwork.
Wait, What Is This?
Utawarerumono is a trilogy of visual novels with tactical RPG elements, plus a couple of spinoffs. The original was developed by Leaf, a subsidiary of Aquaplus, and subsequent games were developed by Aquaplus directly. The first two have also had anime series based on them. All three of the main games have received official English translations by NIS America and Atlus. The games are set in a fantasy world influenced by Japanese and Ainu culture. They're commonly praised for having intricate stories, complex character development, beautiful music, and mind-blowing plot twists. In terms of story structure and breadth of plot, they have often been compared to Nihon Falcom'sKiseki / Trails series. The first game opens with a man who has lost his memories waking up in a forest and discovering that he has a mask permanently attached to his face. He is taken in by the people of a nearby village, and in turn he helps protect them from bandits and would-be conquerors; over the course of the story, he leads a war to unite the country and also seeks to discover the truth of his past. The story explores themes of war, political intrigue, love, and identity. In terms of gameplay, the games are primarily visual novels and involve reading quite a bit of text accompanied by character and background illustrations. The VN segments are occasionally broken up by tactical RPG battles in the vein of games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, or Fire Emblem; I would personally estimate that the games are about 80% VN and 20% TRPG. By the way, there's also a lot of kemonomimi.
That Sounds Neat, What Order Should I Play / Watch Everything?
Alternately, you can watch the 2006 Utawarerumono anime; streaming for free at Funimation and available for purchase on DVD.
There's also a fan translation of the original 2002 PC game, but finding the original game legally can be a little difficult nowadays; it is not sold digitally, so you would need to find a physical copy of the DVD version of the game on Japanese used goods or auction sites.
(Optional) Watch the 2009 Utawarerumono OAV; streaming at HIDIVE and available for purchase on Blu-ray & DVD.
(Optional) Watch Utawarerumono: Tusukuru-koujo no Karei Naru Hibi, the final OVA (no official English release)
Warning: Don't look at anything about Mask of Truth until you've finished Mask of Deception; there are massive spoilers!
I've got a few minutes, what's the non-tl;dr version?
The original Utawarerumono was an adult visual novel released for Windows in 2002. It never received an official English translation. It is no longer for sale digitally, and physical copies are out of print; it can sometimes be found cheaply at Japanese used good stores such as Suruga-ya, if you're willing to go through a proxy shopping service. There is also a fan translation of it that is designed to work with the DVD release of the game. In addition, the erotic scenes in the game are commonly considered to be superfluous, if not actively detracting from the quality of the story; the game was developed during an era when the common belief was that visual novels needed to have adult material in order to sell well, and so they are present in the game despite not being a major part of it or important to the overall story. It was ported to the Playstation 2 in 2006 as Utawarerumono: Chiriyukumono e no Komori Uta and had voice acting added to it, various enhancements to the gameplay, and the adult scenes removed. That version would later be ported to the PSP in 2009. Neither of these versions received an English release, and these versions are easier to import nowadays, but there is no translation patch for them. An anime series based on the game was produced in 2006, and an additional three-episode OVA that covers some side-stories not present in the original series was produced in 2009. Both were officially licensed and released by ADV Films, although the license has since been sold to Funimation. The anime series omits a few details that were present in the original game, but overall it is considered to be a good adaptation in the story, and it's the best way to experience it in English. The series was then dormant for several years, and fans were surprised when two sequels, Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen and Utawarerumono: Futari no Hakuoro, were announced, and they were released in 2015 and 2016, respectively. An anime series based on Itsuwari no Kamen was announced simultaneously and released on Crunchyroll as Utawarerumono: The False Faces. The anime series received a lukewarm reception; while it covers the same basic story, the general consensus is that compared to the game, the anime has significant changes to its tone and pacing, plus it omits or changes a number of minor but important plot elements. No anime version of Futari no Hakuoro exists at this time. Atlus later announced their licenses of both games, and they released Itsuwari no Kamen as Mask of Deception on May 23, 2017 and Futari no Hakuoro as Mask of Truth on September 5, 2017. The three games all happen in sequential order and the stories are tied together. After the original, Mask of Deception introduces a new cast of characters and is set in a different location, but several characters from the original return in minor roles. Mask of Truth is a direct sequel to Mask of Deception and continues with the same characters, but it also has strong references to events from the original and concludes some of its open plot threads. If you really want to jump right into a game, you could play Mask of Deception before watching the original anime, as long as you keep in mind that you'll be missing some references and there will be a few characters it assumes you already know; on the other hand, you definitely need to have finished both before playing Mask of Truth. On April 26th, 2018, a remake of the PS2/PSP remake of the original was released for the PS4 and Vita. In addition to the upgraded combat system from the PS version of the game, this version has retouched character art, completely redrawn backgrounds and an expanded soundtrack. The game was released on May 26 in the USA and May 29th in Europe as Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen by NIS America. The Japanese release also included an all-new animated OVA set between the original Utawarerumono and Mask of Deception, but due to spoilers, it's recommended to not watch it until after you've finished Mask of Truth. On September 27, 2018, they released Utawarerumono Zan, an action game based on Itsuwari no Kamen. The game was developed by Tamsoft, developers of the Senran Kagura games, and has similar gameplay; it tells a heavily abridged version of Itsuwari no Kamen's story, and during the action segments you control a group of four characters and fight waves of enemies. Every controllable unit and Ukon from the original Itsuwari no Kamen are playable, and Oshtor and Munechika are available as DLC characters. This game was licensed by NIS America and released on September 10, 2019. On October 18, 2019, all three of the main games also got released for free on iOS and Android. Unfortunately, the mobile releases are only available in Japanese, remove all of the battle sequences, and have all of the bath scenes removed, presumably to comply with content restrictions on the Apple and Google app stores. At the same time that those games were released, the director of Aquaplus announced that they are producing an anime series based on Mask of Truth, but no other details have been revealed yet. On July 2, 2019, Aquaplus announced a new game in the series titled Utawarerumono: Lost Frag, an iOS/Android mobile gacha game. It was released in Japanese on November 11, 2019. It's not available in English, but it's very easy to play the Japanese version; there's an English wiki with more info about the game at https://utawarelf.miraheze.org/. On December 10, 2020, Aquaplus released Dokapon UP! Mugen no Roulette on PS4 & Switch, a crossover between the Dokapon and Utawarerumono franchises. The Dokapon series are board game-like games that involve rolling dice to move characters around a map; sometimes they're compared to Mario Party games, but they tend to be much longer. As of January 22, 2021, all three of the main games have also been released on Steam! Prelude to the Fallen, Mask of Deception, and Mask of Truth are all available for Windows PCs in English, Japanese, and Chinese. After 18 years, all three Utawarerumono games finally have official translations. It's a good time to be alive. Unfortunately, on the same date, Atlus delisted the digital releases of Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth from the PSN Store, so the only way to buy those games on PS4/Vita now is to find physical copies. To sum everything up, here's a list of major Utawarerumono game / anime releases. Platforms with an official English version are highlighted in bold.
JP Release
US Release
Title
Platform
April 26, 2002
Utawarerumono
PC
April 3, 2006
January 27, 2009
Utawarerumono
Anime
October 26, 2006
Utawarerumono: Chiri Yuku Mono e no Komori Uta
PS2
May 28, 2009
Utawarerumono: Chiri Yuku Mono e no Komori Uta
PSP
June 5, 2009
April 12, 2016
Utawarerumono OAV
Anime
September 24, 2015
May 23, 2017
Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen (Mask of Deception)
PS3/PS4/Vita
October 3, 2015
October 3, 2015
Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen (The False Faces)
Anime
September 21, 2016
September 5, 2017
Utawarerumono: Futari no Hakuoro (Mask of Truth)
PS3/PS4/Vita
April 26, 2018
May 26, 2020
Utawarerumono: Chiri Yuku Mono e no Komori Uta (Prelude to the Fallen)
PS4/Vita
April 26, 2018
Utawarerumono: Tusukuru-koujo no Karei Naru Hibi
Anime
September 27, 2018
September 10, 2019
Utawarerumono Zan
PS4
October 18, 2019
Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen, Mask of Deception, and Mask of Truth
iOS/Android
November 26, 2019
Utawarerumono: Lost Frag
iOS/Android
January 23, 2019
January 23, 2019
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception & Mask of Truth
PC
December 10, 2020
Dokapon UP! Mugen no Roulette
PS4/Switch
January 22, 2021
January 22, 2021
Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen
PC
FAQ
Where can I talk to more Utaware fans? There's a Discord chat server at https://discord.gg/b8vj65f! Come join us. Do I need to play the original game (Prelude to the Fallen) before Mask of Deception? I strongly recommend it. Longer version: Mask of Deception, coming out over ten years after the original game, was written with the expectation that there would be a lot of new people coming in to the series who had never played the original. You can play it without being familiar with the original, and you won't miss much, but there are several character cameos and references you'll miss. Also, the opening scene of Mask of Deception spoils a major twist from the ending of the first game. Mask of Truth, on the other hand, is a different matter entirely, and the final plot arc ties very heavily into the original game; you definitely need to have played both of the first two games before Mask of Truth. So exactly what is Utawarerumono Zan? Should I play it? Zan is an action game developed by Tamsoft (developer of the Senran Kagura series) based on Mask of Deception. Its story is the same as MoD's except massively abridged; it compresses a 40-hour visual novel into under 10 hours of action game. It's a fun game if you want to play as your favorite MoD characters and beat up some mooks with musou/Warriors-style combat, but if you're interested in the story, I would not recommend playing it as a replacement for MoD. What's the deal with Lost Frag? It's a free-to-play gacha game with an original story that also features characters from all of the other Utawarerumono games. It is not a direct sequel to any of the other games and seems to take place in an alternate universe. It's only available in Japanese, but there's a wiki dedicated to documenting translations and information about it if you'd like to learn more. And what about Dokapon UP!? Your guess is as good as mine. The Dokapon games were developed by Sting, so I can only assume that some crazy executive at Sting thought, "What if we made a new Dokapon game... with Utawarerumono characters??" and somebody at Aquaplus decided to go for it. It adheres to traditional Dokapon gameplay pretty strongly, but features Utawarerumono characters instead of classes, and it has an original story that features characters from every game in the series being trapped inside a board game world together. It's fun, if you're interested in that kind of thing. No localization has been announced yet, but it's possible we could get an English version. Are any other Utawarerumono games in development? Aquaplus also announced that they have another console title in development, but no details are known about it. Will there be a third season of the anime? Aquaplus has announced that a third season based on Mask of Truth is in production, but right now there are no other details about it. I'm not really enjoying the original game or anime series. Will I like the others? Do I have to be familiar with the original? While I like the original, I do think it's the weakest part of the series, and there are a lot of people who like the sequels much more. If you're just not getting into it, go ahead and skip to Mask of Deception and see if you like it more. There are events late in Mask of Truth that tie heavily into the original, but the game is still understandable even if you haven't finished it, and seeing the end of the series might give you more appreciation for the beginning. Why can't I buy Mask of Deception / Mask of Truth on the PSN Store? Atlus' publishing contract with Aquaplus expired and they decided not to renew it, so the games were delisted. That means the only way to buy MoD/MoT on PS4/Vita now is physically, and while physical copies aren't too hard to find as of this writing, they will probably become rare quickly. Buy them while you can, and hopefully another publisher will pick up the license. I watched the The False Faces / the Itsuwari no Kamen anime, should I still play the game before playing Mask of Truth? Yes! The anime made a lot of changes from the story of the game. Character introductions and backstories are different, a lot of character development was cut out, story arcs were removed, and details around major plot events were changed enough that some things in MoT just won't make sense. I try not to be too harsh on the series -- I know people who enjoyed it and got into the Utawarerumono fandom because of it, and that's great -- but it really is not a good adaptation of the game. What's up with localized names like "Hakuowlo", "Karulau", "Atuy", etc...? Some older fans of the series are surprised by this because they're used to the fan translation or ADV's translation of the 2006 anime, which translated 「ハクオロ」 as "Hakuoro", 「カルラ」 as "Karura", and so on -- but Aquaplus' official English versions of these names have always been as seen above in every official release since then. As mentioned before, the series takes inspiration from Ainu culture for many of its fictional terms and aesthetics. The Ainu language is distinct from Japanese and doesn't have its own native script. The decision was made to romanize Ainu-inspired names differently so that they are distinct from Japanese-inspired names, which do also appear in the series; in a sense, 「ハクオロ」 is just as much a localized name as "Hakuowlo". Putting it through a Japanese-to-English romanization system to produce "Hakuoro" is effectively doubly-localizing it, and making the name "look" Japanese to English speakers is adding meaning to it that is explicitly intended to not be there. Where can I buy Utaware merchandise? Many online retailers such as CDJapan or Play-Asia carry CDs and DVDs. If you want things like figures, posters, or other collectables, those are hard to come by from English retailers. Aquaplus and Toranoana, a chain of Japanese doujinshi stores, are owned by the same company, and Toranoana is the only place where most Utaware merch is sold. They have an online storefront at https://ec.toranoana.shop/aqua/ec/. Almost everything there is limited edition; they put new things up every few months, and sometimes they will make reprints of things, but very often after something sells out, it's gone for good. Sometimes you can also find merch that is in used-but-good condition at used goods retailers such as Suruga-ya or Yahoo! JAPAN Auction. All of those sites are in Japanese and don't ship internationally, which means that if you want to buy from them, you'll need to do so through a proxy shopping service. I have personally used From Japan and White Rabbit Express many times and like them; also, Buyee specializes in Yahoo, and I've used BuySmart Japan, too. There are others out there, so feel free to share if you have success or failure stories. Be forewarned that proxy shopping can be expensive, and often the shopping fees combined with shipping and handling can be almost as expensive as the items you buy, especially for anything bulky like tapestries or fragile like figures. Last, sometimes you can rarely find merch on eBay, but the sellers there have markups so high that often it's more expensive than proxy shopping.
can you play online together with ps3 and ps4 video
Yes but an Xbox and Playstation players are usually placed in different sessions. This is called cross platform gaming if you want to play GTAV Online with a friend who has a PS but you don’t, you both have to join a session and figure a way to be... They also changed the amount of friends you can play with in the Online mode, moving it up to 6. This game became a classic on the PS3, so despite the PS4 not being backwards compatible, you can still play one of the biggest last gen games updated for the PS4. The Last of Us Sony announced today in a comprehensive Q&A posted to the PlayStation Blog that PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 users can play together online if developers choose to support it for their games I know DCUO will have the PS3 and PS4 playing together, but BF4 won't. Its advertising the 64-player maps and stuff that the current gen can't handle. The others, I can't say. I totally forgot about the 64 player and 16 player limits, that makes complete sense with that one. Anyone know about COD? AND: Superhero MMO DC Universe Online for PlayStation 4 will allow cross-platform play with PlayStation 3. DCUO senior creative director Jens Andersen said during a phone interview with GameSpot this morning, "As a PS4 launch title, cross-compatibility, getting all of our console players on the same server, is a major priority." Cross-Play: Games You Can Play With Friends Over PS4, Xbox One, Switch, And PC PS4, and Xbox One together, making it the largest COD community for a single game to date. Over here it states that the ability for ps3 and ps4 users to crossplay is available, but it depends on the developers. Q: Can PS4 and PS3 users play together online, cross-platform? A: The functionality is technically possible and some developers may choose to support it for their titles. Can PS3 and PS4 version play online together? User Info: Redfury509. Redfury509 6 years ago #1. I have a PS3 and won't be buying a PS4 anytime soon, but my friend has a PS4 and will be buying this game for it. We're planning to play this game together, so is it possible? Thanks in advance. Helldivers is the best, that has ps3, ps4, and vita crossplay and crossbuy. Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator and BlazBlue: Central Fiction DC Universe Online - And its free, starts off pretty cool and I really like the character creation process, ultimately feels a bit dated. If a PS Plus member registers a PS4™ as their Primary system, anyone who uses that system has the ability to play online multiplayer, regardless of whether or not they are PS Plus members. Additionally, as many as four players can simultaneously play online on the same console, even if the 3 additional players don't subscribe to PlayStation Plus.
Connecting 2 PS4's with LAN Cable (No Internet Needed ...
Weird Thing I Caught On The PS4 Please Like, Favorite, Share, and Subscribe for more...Can o' Beats by Dirk K: http://www.dirkk.com/ What happens when you put a ps3 disc in a ps4? Well, you can play it of course! This works with ANY ps3 game you have!I show you GTA 5 with a ps3 disc on the... Quick Vid on how to connect 2 PS4's via LAN so that you can play against each other without being connected to the internet. Sorry for the bad camera work, w... In this video, I show you how to play multiplayer freeon PS4 without the need of PS PLUS.Twitterhttps://twitter.com/PancakenGamenKHCentralhttps://www.youtube... About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ...
