Gaming PlayStation 5

Berbasbullet said:
It’s alright! I found the story a bit meh but mechanically felt all good.
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I'm not too far in (I always spend way too much time faffing about in these open world games) but so far I'm trying to get into the story, it seems alright but I wouldn't say I'm captivated by any means.

I really like how well it captures the mountain landscape. I live close to the same ecosystem and the game does a shockingly good job with sound and lighting to make it feel like those areas. All the fancy HDR and pixels probably don't hurt in that regard either.
 
GaryLifo said:
It was free on PS plus ages ago and I added it to my library. Just afew days before PS5 launched I gave it go, played about 4-6 hours and I was enjoying it, but once I started doing PS5 stuff I didn't go back to it.

It's got all the usual open world stuff, leveling up, areas to clear by taking down the strongholds, secrets / collectibles to find etc and fight mechanics a little like the Batman games, along with vehicle combat.

If you can get it cheap then I think you've little to lose. I just spent £20 on Chaosbane as I was in the mood for a Diablo type experience - let's just say, I'm a little underwhelmed with it. Pretty bland stuff so far.

Was enjoying subnautica a lot, but it was also really creeping me out and I've reached a point where I feel like I want to stay out of the water, which isn't very productive in terms of finishing the game :lol:
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Ahh damn didn’t realise it had been on PS plus I must have missed that one. Shame, I guess I’ll have to see if it gets on a very cheap sale. Wouldn’t want to spend much on a game like Mad max.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Ahh damn didn’t realise it had been on PS plus I must have missed that one. Shame, I guess I’ll have to see if it gets on a very cheap sale. Wouldn’t want to spend much on a game like Mad max.
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Agree. It wasn't bad by any means but rather a competently made game that did many things well. So I did enjoy it for a few hours. But I think it was one of those that nothing stood out about, and there was no genuine excellence to. Plus, of course, alot of your standard open world mechanics you've played a million times before. Was done with it after 5-6 hours.
 
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b82REZ said:
I always love the look of these isometric, rpg games but always struggle to get into them. Heard great things about Divinity Original Sin but never really got into it.

How accessible is Disco?
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it's incredibly good but probably not for everyone. There is no combat, it's all dialogue. The only person you're fighting is yourself. You basically roll dice against some of your actions at various points and getting it wrong can lower your health. And actions you take determine the way the story progresses. Not sure if that makes it more or less accessible than Divinity though, I guess more? Seeing as turn based combat can be considered a bit niche and this doesn't have it.

I'd strongly suggest looking up some gameplay videos for it. Best I can describe it is like a visual novel mixed with a CRPG.
 
b82REZ said:
I always love the look of these isometric, rpg games but always struggle to get into them. Heard great things about Divinity Original Sin but never really got into it.

How accessible is Disco?
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I struggle to get into games that are overly complicated and this might look it but I found it quite easy.

It's cerebral in that sometimes two parts of your character fight against each other (like types of thoughts in his brain) but it's all part of what makes it good. When it boils down to it you've got essentially a point and click detective game where you pick options based on the percentage chance they will succeed. You can increase these chances by having good stats, or the right item on you, or the right knowledge, etc...

I've not played a game like it before tbh.
 
Massive Spanner said:
it's incredibly good but probably not for everyone. There is no combat, it's all dialogue. The only person you're fighting is yourself. You basically roll dice against some of your actions at various points and getting it wrong can lower your health. And actions you take determine the way the story progresses. Not sure if that makes it more or less accessible than Divinity though, I guess more? Seeing as turn based combat can be considered a bit niche and this doesn't have it.

I'd strongly suggest looking up some gameplay videos for it. Best I can describe it is like a visual novel mixed with a CRPG.
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It's the visual novel aspect that really intrigues me.

Solius said:
I struggle to get into games that are overly complicated and this might look it but I found it quite easy.

It's cerebral in that sometimes two parts of your character fight against each other (like types of thoughts in his brain) but it's all part of what makes it good. When it boils down to it you've got essentially a point and click detective game where you pick options based on the percentage chance they will succeed. You can increase these chances by having good stats, or the right item on you, or the right knowledge, etc...

I've not played a game like it before tbh.
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I'm the same with overly complicated games.

This game seems very text heavy and that usually suggests it's going to have complicated systems and wordy tutorials, but with the PS5 version having full voice acting I think that will alleviate a lot of those issues.

Ideally I'll finish Yakuza and then grab this, but with it being on sale I feel like I should grab it now, but I know I'll end up playing it and potentially lose my way in Like a Dragon, which I don't want to do because I'm absolutely loving it.
 
b82REZ said:
It's the visual novel aspect that really intrigues me.



I'm the same with overly complicated games.

This game seems very text heavy and that usually suggests it's going to have complicated systems and wordy tutorials, but with the PS5 version having full voice acting I think that will alleviate a lot of those issues.

Ideally I'll finish Yakuza and then grab this, but with it being on sale I feel like I should grab it now, but I know I'll end up playing it and potentially lose my way in Like a Dragon, which I don't want to do because I'm absolutely loving it.
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I would say it has neither to be honest.
 
Solius said:
Yeah the game does not hold your hand at all.
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Yeah I'd say the only thing I didn't really like was the onslaught of quests you get at the start. Made it hard to know what to actually do to progress the story at times. Still it does all come together later on.
 
BusbyMalone said:
The latest trailer for Returnal

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esmufc07 said:
Do like the look of this. Looking forward to seeing more.
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If the reviews for this are good I’ll pick it up straight away, some of the gameplay looks really cool but a bit confused about the weird flashback visions stuff with the haunted houses popping up throughout. Think I read something about how the world layout completely changes each time you respawn or something.
 
Riz said:
If the reviews for this are good I’ll pick it up straight away, some of the gameplay looks really cool but a bit confused about the weird flashback visions stuff with the haunted houses popping up throughout. Think I read something about how the world layout completely changes each time you respawn or something.
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It's a rogue-lite, the majority, if not the entirety of the game will be procedurally generated.
 
It will be excellent, Housemarque are excellent at fast paced arcade games.

Resogun was a classic back in the day.
 
https://blog.playstation.com/2021/04/01/returnal-hands-on-preview/

Ever since last year’s first reveal, you know some of what to expect. Housemarque has touched upon Returnal’s combat; teased its story. (If you haven’t kept up to date, don’t worry: we recap below). Now, after spending several hours with a near-complete version of the game, we have a better sense of how these and more come together. And, in addition, how Housemarque is leveraging the PlayStation 5’s features for an impressive next-gen debut.

A broadcast signal of unknown origins draws Selene, a Greek-American ASTRA deep space scout to an unmapped world. Her arrival onto Atropos is a violent one: an explosive accident mid-orbit sends her ship Helios spiralling into a crash landing. This sequence is an excellent early showcase for what the studio’s got in store for us with the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback: every metal-crunching impact is mimicked on the controller. When a flaming Helios roars across the width of your TV screen, you feel that fatal flyby through your hands.
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The ASTRA scout isn’t a trigger-happy supersoldier. Thoughtful rather than cavalier, she has a scientist’s mind and an explorer’s tenacity. She’s also human. That steadfast persona slow unravels, sold convincingly by Jane Perry’s grounded vocal performance. Uncertainty slowly creeps into the edges of her analytical monologues, while recovered audio logs – voice recordings of another self (is it future, or is it past?) that tease upcoming encounters – unsettle with their increasing erraticness.

In the field, Selene’s nimble. Dash-dodges to leap across chasms, avoid – even pass through – enemy projectiles. A coloured HUD radial around the character marks direction and proximity of attacks. She can mantle. Early unlocks of a blade and hookshot open up melee and faster traversal options. The hookshot’s generous reach on marked grapple points zip you across wide areas.

Within any cycle, dealing damage but avoiding it yourself builds Adrenaline, a mechanic that stacks up to five levels, each tier unlocking an enhancement: increases to weapon damage, vision (enemies marked by a red circle), strengthening your melee attack and more. Get hit once and everything resets. It’s a great incentive to stay sharp and promotes high-level play.

Weapons recharge rather than reload; during that time a trigger tap right to instantly recharge and earn a damage bonus (Overload). Mess up and your weapon jams. Every weapon has an alt-fire mode and an additional unlockable ability once you’ve downed enough enemies. Both are pulled from a large pool of possible attacks, leading to an extensive range of potential weapon builds.
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At the bottom left corner of your on-screen HUD are suit integrity (health) and weapon proficiency bars. Integrity can be replenished or extended with collectables. Your weapon proficiency bar dictates the power level of the next found weapon, be it an enemy drop or unlocked chest. That too can be increased through items collected. Weapons range from familiar analogues (pistol, rifle) to otherworldly types (the Spitmaw Blaster fires a corrosive fluid that eats away at enemy health over time). The audio on these things packs a punch: blasts echo across valley floors and reverberate in tight quarters. Fun fact: Those reverberations are in real time, using a mix of 3D audio and ray casting, dynamically changing based on your position
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Built on top of all that are multiple, interconnecting game systems that spice up every cycle. Artifacts give you buffs for the duration of your current run (deal 10% more damage to a low health target, or use slo-mo when in alt-fire mode, for example). Consumables are one-off activations (healing shot, shields). Parasites, living, scuttling entities that’ll latch onto your suit if picked up, best example the gamble of Returnal’s modifiers, always pairing reward with risk. One may increase the stats of the weapons you find next, but your melee damage is reduced by half. A specific alien device can remove all parasites but costs Oblities, the planet’s version of currency dropped by enemies on death and unearthed from rocks that glow a tell-tale yellow.

You’re forever outnumbered, but quick reactions and core feedback loops make for satisfying combat encounters.

There’s a vibrant diversity to the alien species intent on killing you as soon as you enter an area. Multi-tentacled quadrupeds, leaping biped juggernauts, squid-like flyers, armoured lurkers… their ferocity and attack patterns are scaled such that with quick wits and reactions they’re survivalable, regardless of which combination or number you face. Many fire projectile cascades. There’s an echo here of bullet hells, but brightly coloured as they are, you’re never caught unawares. I have to speak to the game’s 3D audio design, which, if you’re wearing a compatible headset, lets you better pinpoint enemy placement around you. While wearing the Pulse 3D Wireless headset for PS5 on one cycle, I registered the sound of an enemy approaching from the rear. I whirled round, freezing my aim exactly where it was spawning, taking it out before it could pounce.
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While you’re never far from a firefight, Returnal is as much an explorative platformer as it is a shooter. You’re not ploughing through a set number of small arena-style kill boxes in quick succession. Level design is hugely varied and you have breathing room to explore. For the majority of your playtime, a good two-thirds of the screen real estate is dedicated to the world around you. Yes, that’s also to best assess threat placement during combat, but it also captures the colossal scale of the alien civilisation. Smaller touches outside combat sell the atmosphere. The indistinct call of wildlife in the far distance; writhing grass that’s one of the planet’s non-aggressive lifeforms; the dirt smears that gradually accumulate on Selene’s suit; the steady patter of rainfall felt through the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback.

Doorways open to claustrophobic alleys, multi-floor structures, tiny caves, partially-destroyed bridges. Hidden catacombs and side rooms are rife. Traps, interactive alien devices – and the items needed to access them – are nestled here and there (such as Fabricators, which generate items, or the Reconstructor, a one-time resurrection machine you’ll return to on death, keeping you in the current cycle with loadout intact). Unreachable spots will taunt you until you’ve found and incorporated the right alien tech to access in future cycles. You’re given a general compass direction to your central goal, but you’re otherwise free to explore as much or as little as you like. Further exploration and backtracking will help you upgrade equipment, unlock sealed sections and delve into the lore of the long-dead civilisation. Alternatively, focus on combat and stack the odds increasingly against you. It’s your choice.
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Every biome is visually distinct, with its own challenges and creatures (though once encountered, ultra-tough ‘Elite’ versions of enemies will start to bleed into other locales). Progression is non-linear. Each biome has a main ‘boss’, but once overcome, you’re not locked to facing it down on subsequent cycles. Stumble into the right area, and you can travel straight to another biome. Here’s your PS5 console’s SSD at work: passing through a portal into another part of Atropos seems as fast as walking through a door. Resurrections are also quick: a few seconds of flashback and you reawaken at the crash site.
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Graphics are really a very small part of what makes a game great IMO.

One of my favourite games is binding of isaac which wouldn't look out of place in the 16 bit era.

I've just bought outriders, and the graphics are perfectly fine but do not blowyour socks off, but I'm really enjoying the game after 8 hours so far and can't wait to get back on it later tonight to keep progressing.

I get that people think next gen console therefore graphics need to be something incredible, but honestly the best things about ps5 are fast load times and extremely steady 60fps animations.
 
GaryLifo said:
Graphics are really a very small part of what makes a game great IMO.

One of my favourite games is binding of isaac which wouldn't look out of place in the 16 bit era.

I've just bought outriders, and the graphics are perfectly fine but do not blowyour socks off, but I'm really enjoying the game after 8 hours so far and can't wait to get back on it later tonight to keep progressing.

I get that people think next gen console therefore graphics need to be something incredible, but honestly the best things about ps5 are fast load times and extremely steady 60fps animations.
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Framerate > graphics from someone thats still playing the majority of games at 1080p.
 
GaryLifo said:
Graphics are really a very small part of what makes a game great IMO.

One of my favourite games is binding of isaac which wouldn't look out of place in the 16 bit era.

I've just bought outriders, and the graphics are perfectly fine but do not blowyour socks off, but I'm really enjoying the game after 8 hours so far and can't wait to get back on it later tonight to keep progressing.

I get that people think next gen console therefore graphics need to be something incredible, but honestly the best things about ps5 are fast load times and extremely steady 60fps animations.
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Is outriders worth a crack? I’ve been on the demo and found it to be alright!
 
The load times really do make a remarkable difference. I’m only playing Skyrim again for the millionth time but just loading into new areas is so much faster with some being near instant. I primarily played the game a long time ago on the PS3 and it was almost an entirely different game at that point.
 
Looking at games, bit of a non-gamer here so advice appreciated. I know what to get for my son but fancy actually playing a few myself. Looked at one called Mortal Shell, would people recommend?
 
Berbasbullet said:
Is outriders worth a crack? I’ve been on the demo and found it to be alright!
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I was very on the fence after the demo, I enjoyed it, but I wanted to see a bit more before buying. Watched some streamers who had early access yesterday and it tipped me into buying it.

I've had about 8 hours so far and I am honestly really enjoying it. The world tier system ensures it's always a challenge and the abilities are fun and great to experiment with. Loot drops frequently and because they put really good mods even on blue rarity gear, it makes any blue drop worth looking at. I also love the crafting system and the fact you can permanently claim a mod into your library by breaking down the item that has it.

Story isn't grabbing me, but I don't buy games like this for story anyway.

Always hard to tell someone else if they should get it or not, but I've done Destiny 1 and 2, division 1 and 2, borderlands 1,2 and 3, anthem, avengers etc and I'd put this among the better looter shooters I've played. Below destiny and borderlands, but plenty above the others.
 
Is Tropico any good or would I be better off just redownloading Civ?
 
GaryLifo said:
I was very on the fence after the demo, I enjoyed it, but I wanted to see a bit more before buying. Watched some streamers who had early access yesterday and it tipped me into buying it.

I've had about 8 hours so far and I am honestly really enjoying it. The world tier system ensures it's always a challenge and the abilities are fun and great to experiment with. Loot drops frequently and because they put really good mods even on blue rarity gear, it makes any blue drop worth looking at. I also love the crafting system and the fact you can permanently claim a mod into your library by breaking down the item that has it.

Story isn't grabbing me, but I don't buy games like this for story anyway.

Always hard to tell someone else if they should get it or not, but I've done Destiny 1 and 2, division 1 and 2, borderlands 1,2 and 3, anthem, avengers etc and I'd put this among the better looter shooters I've played. Below destiny and borderlands, but plenty above the others.
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Interesting, thanks for the detailed reply. I'm never great at these kinds of games so will think about it.
 
@esmufc07 how you finding ghosts so far?

Also does anyone here play dead by daylight? It’s cross platform and fun/terrifying.
 
T00lsh3d said:
Looking at games, bit of a non-gamer here so advice appreciated. I know what to get for my son but fancy actually playing a few myself. Looked at one called Mortal Shell, would people recommend?
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I think that's a bit of a Souls like game, by which I mean, really difficult. Could be wrong. But as a non gamer you're probably better off going for something which has a good narrative/story to keep you gripped.
 
Anyone have any suggestions for fun coop games to play with mates? We have previously played a mix of games from Warzone and Destiny (1&2) to pro clubs and mine craft but just want something different. Tempted by No Mans Sky after all these updates over the years. For shooters, what is that Remnant like from this months PS plus games?
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I think that's a bit of a Souls like game, by which I mean, really difficult. Could be wrong. But as a non gamer you're probably better off going for something which has a good narrative/story to keep you gripped.
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Cheers. I’m going to get it, see what happens
 
To be honest, as a casual gamer I'm quite bored of my PS5. I've completed Valhalla and Miles Morales, and games like Warzone and FIFA just aren't appealing to me anymore, they absorb too much time to achieve anything decent. I very occasionally play Rocket League and Fall Guys and I was looking forward to Gran Turismo but thats next year now.

Anyone got any glimmers of hope for me before I resolve to sell it?
 
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