Recommend me some PS4 games

[gorfias]

Pretty much everything I was going to mention has been listed minus one thing: The Uncharted series.

I'll freely admit two things about it:

1. I'm a fanboy so take my recommendation how you will.

Next one's long

2. The Uncharted series dumps near all of it's resources into presentation. It's gameplay isn't very deep, it's serviceable at it's best and worst at the same time but supplements it with some of the best set-pieces I have ever played.
And they are playable.
It's a good (and accurate) joke that the Uncharted games are playable movies and it's true; cutscenes and vignettes happen frequently, most of them aren't terribly long and the game flows in and out of them seamlessly and about ninety percent of the time, if the control is being taken away from you, it's taken away from Nathan Drake as well or it's just a dialogue scene that would have gained nothing from player input.
That's why I stress the "playable" part of "playable movie" when people say that: Things that would be cutscenes in other games are playable in Uncharted, it's astounding sometimes.

Longs story short, Uncharted's gameplay is just average but if you can forgive that and get wrapped up in presentation, I think you might like it.

Angry Joe gave it (the entire series actually combined) GOTY:


I just started playing 4. I didn't like 1 much but 2 was GOTY for me. So far 4 is all that you write. And the gameplay is fine IMHO.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I can't recommend The Witcher 3. It's main selling point was the writing, and the writing wasn't all that good.

What the actual fuck? It's one of the best written games ever made. And I'm not even exaggerating.

As for the game play, even fans will agree that the combat was bad. The only reason to play the game is if you like open world titles. Personally, I hate them. I spent twenty minutes escorting a goat through a wolf infested wood. An escort mission. With a goat. When I got back from the mission I saw a small fire in the distance. Geralt, in all his wisdom, said that it must have been started by a lightning strike. Except that it hadn't rained all day, and the sky was blue. Still irritated after that stupid goat mission, I turned the game off and never returned.

Oh I see. You've played only 2% of the game. And FYI there was a rainstorm that day. It literally starts as you're getting closer to the castle. Maybe your game bugged out and it didn't rain for you. But otherwise it is a scripted event.

OT: Get The Witcher 3. Also Batman Arkham Knight is supposed to be a really good PS4 title and if you like Batman and pretty graphics you should love it.

 

[Fox12]

I can't recommend The Witcher 3. It's main selling point was the writing, and the writing wasn't all that good.

What the actual fuck? It's one of the best written games ever made. And I'm not even exaggerating.

As for the game play, even fans will agree that the combat was bad. The only reason to play the game is if you like open world titles. Personally, I hate them. I spent twenty minutes escorting a goat through a wolf infested wood. An escort mission. With a goat. When I got back from the mission I saw a small fire in the distance. Geralt, in all his wisdom, said that it must have been started by a lightning strike. Except that it hadn't rained all day, and the sky was blue. Still irritated after that stupid goat mission, I turned the game off and never returned.

Oh I see. You've played only 2% of the game. And FYI there was a rainstorm that day. It literally starts as you're getting closer to the castle. Maybe your game bugged out and it didn't rain for you. But otherwise it is a scripted event.

OT: Get The Witcher 3. Also Batman Arkham Knight is supposed to be a really good PS4 title and if you like Batman and pretty graphics you should love it.

Eh. We'll agree to disagree. I found both the game and books to have pretty cringe worthy writing. Bad even by video game standards. I'm usually not too set in my opinions these days, but I'm pretty confident in saying this.

From what I understand, the red Barron quest line is the best in the game. I watched a lets play, because I was curious if the story was worth experiencing separate from the game play. I wasn't surprised to find that the writing never really improves.

 

[stroopwafel]

Eh. We'll agree to disagree. I found both the game and books to have pretty cringe worthy writing. Bad even by video game standards. I'm usually not too set in my opinions these days, but I'm pretty confident in saying this.

Now this is just ridiculous. I'll be the first to admit that something has to be your cup of tea to fully appreciate it even if that something is objectively good but saying Witcher 3's writing is 'cringe worthy' makes me doubt your comprehension abilities. Never read the books so can't speak for that but the writing in Witcher 3 is among the best in popular culture. I mean, what are you comparing the game to? Dostojevski or ponderous French cinema?

 

[Fox12]

Eh. We'll agree to disagree. I found both the game and books to have pretty cringe worthy writing. Bad even by video game standards. I'm usually not too set in my opinions these days, but I'm pretty confident in saying this.

Now this is just ridiculous. I'll be the first to admit that something has to be your cup of tea to fully appreciate it even if that something is objectively good but saying Witcher 3's writing is 'cringe worthy' makes me doubt your comprehension abilities. Never read the books so can't speak for that but the writing in Witcher 3 is among the best in popular culture. I mean, what are you comparing the game to? Dostojevski or ponderous French cinema?

The best in pop culture? If you say so. Personally, I dont even consider it one of the best stories that year, much less in all of pop culture. I don't have to compare it to French cinema or classic literature. I can compare it to the decidedly silly Undertale, or to Bloodborne. If you look at modern fantasy, you've got GoT.

Even by the standards of $5 sword and sorcery paper back novels, the narrative is pretty lacking.

 

[Tanis]

List that I actually own, because, fuck it?
I like to inventory my stuff in excel docs.


Physical:
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Assassin?s Creed 4: Black Flag
Bloodborne
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Day One Edition)
Disgaea 5: Alliance Of Vengeance
Dishonored 2: Limited Edition
Divinity: Original Sin (Enhanced Edition)
DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition
DOOM (2016)
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree?s Woe & The Blight Below
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
Fallout 4
Far Cry: Primal
Final Fantasy 10/10-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
Infamous: Second Son
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Ultimate Edition
Just Cause 3
King Of Fighters XII: Burn To Fight (Premium Edition)
Mortal Kombat XL
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir: Storybook Edition
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos
Ratchet & Clank
Saints Row 4: Reelected + Gat Out Of Hell
Shovel Knight
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition
TES5: Skyrim: Special Edition
The Last Guardian (Collector?s Edition)
Toukiden: Kiwami
Uncharted 4: A Thief?s End
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered: Special Edition

Digital (PSN & Bought):
Aaru?s Awakening
Badland (GOTY)
Color Guardian
CounterSpy
Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition
Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round
Dishonored: Definitive Edition
Dragon Age: Inquisition (GOTY)
Entwined
Everyone?s Gone To The Rapture
FEZ
Grim Fandango Remastered
Helldivers
Hotline Miami 1
Hyper Void
Invisible, Inc. (Console Edition)
Journey
Letter Quest Remastered
Middle-Earth: Shadow OF Mordor (GOTY)
OlliOlli2: Welcome To Olliwood
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate
Pumped BMX+
Race The Sun
Rogue Legacy
Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell
Shutshimi
Sound Shapes
Stealth Inc 2: A Game Of Clones
Stories: The Path Of Destinies
Super Meat Boy!
Super Time Force Ultra
The Deadly Tower Of Monsters
The Unfinished Swan
Tiny Troopers Joint Ops
Tower Of Guns
Ultratron
Xenodrifter

 

[stroopwafel]

The best in pop culture? If you say so. Personally, I dont even consider it one of the best stories that year, much less in all of pop culture. I don't have to compare it to French cinema or classic literature. I can compare it to the decidedly silly Undertale, or to Bloodborne. If you look at modern fantasy, you've got GoT.

Bloodborne has my favorite story but it's very non-descript and 'infer-don't-tell' compared to Witcher 3's straightforward narrative so comparing the two is apples and oranges. Witcher employs a traditional cinematic style of storytelling and applies this to an open-world game which is exponentially more difficult than having a story told in a linear fashion like in a movie or TV show(hence why Witcher has the best story of any open-world game). Not only that but there is an entire web of immersive and captivating storylines in the game that all have various degrees of interaction with one another. The way they pulled this off is nothing short of exceptional.

GoT was a great show(even Witcher 3 devs are apparently fans) but with the last few seasons they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel. If Witcher is this shows videogame equivalent I don't think it compares unfavorably. And that is in no small part thanks to the superb writing.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Eh. We'll agree to disagree. I found both the game and books to have pretty cringe worthy writing. Bad even by video game standards. I'm usually not too set in my opinions these days, but I'm pretty confident in saying this.

Now this is just ridiculous. I'll be the first to admit that something has to be your cup of tea to fully appreciate it even if that something is objectively good but saying Witcher 3's writing is 'cringe worthy' makes me doubt your comprehension abilities. Never read the books so can't speak for that but the writing in Witcher 3 is among the best in popular culture. I mean, what are you comparing the game to? Dostojevski or ponderous French cinema?

The best in pop culture? If you say so. Personally, I dont even consider it one of the best stories that year, much less in all of pop culture. I don't have to compare it to French cinema or classic literature. I can compare it to the decidedly silly Undertale, or to Bloodborne. If you look at modern fantasy, you've got GoT.

Even by the standards of $5 sword and sorcery paper back novels, the narrative is pretty lacking.

I'm curious as to what, if anything in the realm of video games, outdoes The Witcher's writing?

 

[Fox12]

Eh. We'll agree to disagree. I found both the game and books to have pretty cringe worthy writing. Bad even by video game standards. I'm usually not too set in my opinions these days, but I'm pretty confident in saying this.

Now this is just ridiculous. I'll be the first to admit that something has to be your cup of tea to fully appreciate it even if that something is objectively good but saying Witcher 3's writing is 'cringe worthy' makes me doubt your comprehension abilities. Never read the books so can't speak for that but the writing in Witcher 3 is among the best in popular culture. I mean, what are you comparing the game to? Dostojevski or ponderous French cinema?

The best in pop culture? If you say so. Personally, I dont even consider it one of the best stories that year, much less in all of pop culture. I don't have to compare it to French cinema or classic literature. I can compare it to the decidedly silly Undertale, or to Bloodborne. If you look at modern fantasy, you've got GoT.

Even by the standards of $5 sword and sorcery paper back novels, the narrative is pretty lacking.

I'm curious as to what, if anything in the realm of video games, outdoes The Witcher's writing?

Plenty of things. Silent Hill 2 makes excellent use of the unreliable narrator. What we're told by the protagonist, and what is actually true, are very separate things. You actually have to think about and analyze the dialogue of each character, because taking what they say at face value will not lead you to the truth. The game delves deep into the psychology of multiple troubled individuals, and explores themes of depression, sexual abuse, ptsd, repression, violence, and more. Furthermore, it communicates its ideas through visual metaphor, and not just by flatly telling you information.

Dark Soul's explores themes of existentialism and nihilism, and uses its game play to reinforce its ideas. Most of the story is communicate through visual metaphor and level design, forcing the player to piece together events themselves. The game isn't dialogue heavy, but the dialogue that exists is often laced with implication and meaning, and many characters aren't interested in telling you the truth. This is actually a mark of high quality writing. Conveying more information through fewer words through implication. Brevity is the soul of wit, as Shakespeare would say. It also manages to deconstruct video game design, because the only way to get the whole story is to sequence break the game and do the opposite of what your told. Spec-Ops the line uses an unreliable narrator, much like SH2, and uses game design to mess with the players heads. For instance, images and pictures will change when you turn a corner. The game places you into the broken psyche of a deranged soldier. Indeed, most of the game is likely a hallucination. Stanley kubrick used similar techniques while filming A Clockwork Orange. Undertale subverts video game design by giving the player true freedom within the confines of the game world, and then holding them accountable for their actions. It explores themes of responsibility, existentialism, morality, and guilt. It's very tightly written and designed, and many seemingly innocuous lines of dialogue are laced with meaning. It's probably one of the best marriages of writing and video game design yet created.

I honestly wouldn't call The Witcher 3 an overall bad game, but I'm not sure how anyone can pretend it's one of the best written games ever, much less one of the best written stories in pop culture. Geralt, like Commander Shepard, is boring lifeless shell through which the player interacts with the world. He's not an established character with convictions in the game, but he's not a silent stand in for the player either. As a result he has the weaknesses of both types of characters, and the strengths of neither. This problem doesn't exist in the books, but he does come across as a bit of a power fantasy character. Don't even get me started on the prose. The dialogue in the game can be pretty hard to hear, especially when Geralt offers his awkward bumbling attempts at seduction. Some of the side characters are a little more interesting and well rounded, but the main cast is pretty iffy. Furthermore, the game never seems to explore any interesting themes or ideas. It never makes use of any complex story telling devices. It's just laid out for you. This is fine for an adventure lark, which is essentially what the story is, but I wouldn't hold it up as the prime example of writing in video games.

I admit that I'm being a little harsh on the Witcher 3. There are some cringe inducing lines of dialogue, especially when anything romantic happens, but I wouldn't call the writing terrible. It's competent for what it's trying to be, and I can respect that. I just wouldn't consider it the go to game for writing in video games.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Silent Hill 2
Dark Soul's

Those are a couple good examples I must say. They each have an intelligent, unique approach to storytelling which is difficult to find much fault in.

As for The Witcher 3 and series in general, its writing is laid out in plain sight, and in much greater abundance, which by default makes it much easier to find fault with on any number of points. What impresses me about it is it does make me feel like I'm in a different world far more than any writing from Silent Hill or Dark Souls. In those games, it's the atmosphere and gameplay that take center stage. In The Witcher, I look forward to the character interactions far more-so because they are so well-realized within the game world itself; at least as much as time and technological budget have allowed CDPR.

In terms of Geralt being a boring, lifeless shell, I think it's more due to his nature vs any critical shortcomings of writing or delivery. It's in his nature to be that way, which to me is preferred for a game where the player is called upon to guide his decisions to some significant extent.

 

[Fox12]

Silent Hill 2
Dark Soul's

Those are a couple good examples I must say. They each have an intelligent, unique approach to storytelling which is difficult to find much fault in.

As for The Witcher 3 and series in general, its writing is laid out in plain sight, and in much greater abundance, which by default makes it much easier to find fault with on any number of points. What impresses me about it is it does make me feel like I'm in a different world far more than any writing from Silent Hill or Dark Souls. In those games, it's the atmosphere and gameplay that take center stage. In The Witcher, I look forward to the character interactions far more-so because they are so well-realized within the game world itself; at least as much as time and technological budget have allowed CDPR.

In terms of Geralt being a boring, lifeless shell, I think it's more due to his nature vs any critical shortcomings of writing or delivery. It's in his nature to be that way, which to me is preferred for a game where the player is called upon to guide his decisions to some significant extent.

I think that's a fair point. The breadth of the world, and multiple story options, certainly make it more difficult to write then something more linear. I imagine telltale and Bioware have the same problems, and I generally think they have pretty good writing. I'll also say that that, while the games I listed had good writing, their intention wasn't always to entertain. The Witcher put entertainment front and center. It's one of my favorite games, but I wouldn't want every game to be Silent Hill 2. Sometimes you need to just be able to relax with a fun game with a cast of characters you enjoy.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

From what I understand, the red Barron quest line is the best in the game.

I really don't know why people keep saying that. Literally every other part of the story (once you leave White Orchard) is better than the Bloody Baron quest line.

He's not an established character with convictions in the game

Seriously, at least play the game once if you're going to make up shit. He absolutely is an established character with strengths and weaknesses, opinions and deep convictions.

but he does come across as a bit of a power fantasy character.

That's almost every video game ever. And only during gameplay. During cutscenes he's not a power fantasy character at all. He often finds himself in situations that he can't escape from on his own.
In Hearts of Stone he's basically a puppet who has to do what he's told and in Blood and Wine he can get killed during a cutscene in one swift move if he dares to ask a question despite being told to get to the point.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Silent Hill 2
Dark Soul's

Those are a couple good examples I must say. They each have an intelligent, unique approach to storytelling which is difficult to find much fault in.

As for The Witcher 3 and series in general, its writing is laid out in plain sight, and in much greater abundance, which by default makes it much easier to find fault with on any number of points. What impresses me about it is it does make me feel like I'm in a different world far more than any writing from Silent Hill or Dark Souls. In those games, it's the atmosphere and gameplay that take center stage. In The Witcher, I look forward to the character interactions far more-so because they are so well-realized within the game world itself; at least as much as time and technological budget have allowed CDPR.

In terms of Geralt being a boring, lifeless shell, I think it's more due to his nature vs any critical shortcomings of writing or delivery. It's in his nature to be that way, which to me is preferred for a game where the player is called upon to guide his decisions to some significant extent.

I think that's a fair point. The breadth of the world, and multiple story options, certainly make it more difficult to write then something more linear. I imagine telltale and Bioware have the same problems, and I generally think they have pretty good writing. I'll also say that that, while the games I listed had good writing, their intention wasn't always to entertain. The Witcher put entertainment front and center. It's one of my favorite games, but I wouldn't want every game to be Silent Hill 2. Sometimes you need to just be able to relax with a fun game with a cast of characters you enjoy.

Which is also why I'm having a blast going through Uncharted 4 right now. The story is typical pulp adventure as usual, but it's all so well-told that I'm always engaged. This will be a fun game to go for Platinum.