A PS4 Thread: Because You Had to Play "Knack"

I almost forgot I bought it when it was last on sale. Whenever I finish Bloodborne (sooner rather than later) I think I want to play the latest Ori, the maybe try Carrion, then ... maybe a mix of Control and RDR2? I have the latter on disc, so it'll likely live in the machine, but Control I bought digitally, which makes it easier to switch around, I think.

one of the things i'm actually most looking forward to in the next gen of consoles is that ability to switch between multiple frozen game states. Not sure how/if it works on PS5 but it looked great in those XSX previews

i think the PS5 version is less save-state-y and more about booting directly to developer-specified waypoints at the start of levels/missions rather than the title screen

one of the things i'm actually most looking forward to in the next gen of consoles is that ability to switch between multiple frozen game state

Amazing that such a basic thing that's been thrown in with emulators for decades is seen as a next gen advancement and even then it's still going to be a not-quite-save-state.

Cyberpunk 2077... so this is actually happening? Will it be worth it on PS4?

Probably, but I can wait on that one

witcher 3 was a mess at release, this will probably be worse if the number of times its been delayed is any indication

save states are just writing the memory to disk which when you're emulating old consoles that had like 128kb memory is trivial but on contemporaneous consoles it translates to a decent chunk of hard drive space per save

I get that I'm just being all "technological advances that took a five generations to get worse"

don't mind me

I figure cyberpunk will be mostly playable by xmas so I can wait to then

word going around that it has a dangerously seizure-inducing sequence in it so don't play it unless you're sure you don't have epilepsy

We got a PS5 now, trying out all the games to compare (as we got a new 4K telly recently). RDR2, No Mans Sky and Destiny 2 all look bloody marvellous.

Haptic feedback controller is neat too.

Picked up Hellblade (Senua's Sacrifice) and Detroit: Become Human (which came with Heavy Rain, didn't realise).

Just started Hellblade and it's mighty impressive, especially for an indie game. The presentation and aesthetics are first class. The puzzles are a bit annoying and the fight sections are rudimentary, but for some reason it really doesn't matter.

an 'indie game' by a long-running game company with 100 employees

still have a feeling of revulsion every time I read the words "Heavy Rain", pretty good going for a game I played 10 years ago

I've never played a Quantic game, but the main dude there is a creep and a hack, from what I've read.

i like that vid of the heavy rain scene where they fail every QTE. never played the game

i played Heavy Rain & Final Fantasy XIII one after the other
never has my faith in gaming been called into question more

any opportunity to post this, i post this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEK5VxDMMjo

i will still stan for fahrenheit, at least everything up until the supernatural cultist stuff

don't know anythig about Heavy Rain. Is it very bad?

it’s undeniably interesting for awhile but it defined the idea of “walking simulator”. also pretty bleak and mostly not fun iirc

Um Heavy Rain isn't a walking simulator and definitely doesn't define that term.

I wouldn't mind a few more games that aren't aimed entirely at kids and younger teens but also aren't entirely bleak either.

Think I mentioned upthread about the noticeable difference in "vibe" between the old SNES games I used to play and the PS4 games I play now.
With Sony games I always get this eerie, slightly melancholy sense of loneliness, and it's pervasive from game to game, whereas in the 16Bit days I never felt this.

At first I wondered if it was because I was moving from a 2D to 3D environment, but I'm not sure. The SNES games often evoked a feeling of comradery, of being in company even when I'm alone. But even a 2D platformer on PS4 like Celeste or a gentle indie game like Journey can make me feel painfully lonesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYQDnV092hI

lol okay maybe i'm rewriting history a bit. but jim it's literally a game where you have to manipulate the right stick in a certain way in order to apply a band-aid. you have to walk to the door then manipulate the right stick in a semicircle to turn the knob. i mean.... the 'default mode' of the game outside QTEs or other special scenarios is extremely a walking simulator

i think you're right dl - i think it's something to do w 3d but maybe there is something cultural about playstation games as well. tomb raider 1 was the extremely lonely experience too. metal gear solid, ghost in the shell - all v haunted in their own ways. there are counterexamples though. beyond good and evil. ratchet & clank. crash bandicoot.

ah yes, of course.

i guess PS4 doesn't have a whole lot of big cutesy platformers whereas that's a Nintendo staple.

I'm also thinking about top-down RPGs like Earthbound or Chrono Trigger which played-off on the contrast companionship and loneliness. In Earthbound you spend a good part of the game meeting people who help you with your quest, then at one point you lose everyone and you're by yourself, and the feeling of solitude is palpable.

I haven't played a lot of modern JRPGs, mostly because I'm put off by the graphical style: with top-downers the graphics are simplistic, you have to fill-in the gaps with your imagination. The switch to 3D meant a move-away from the super-deformed style, meaning the characters became stylised in a way I can only describe as "skateboards and hairgel".

But with all the 3rd person games: Control, Witcher 3, Death Stranding, even RDR2, I am a person leading a solipsistic life. I interact with characters, sometimes they even join me for short periods on my quest, but there's something not quite there... It's like these worlds aren't properly populated. Maybe it's the 3D thing, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

On another note, I was also thinking about RDR2, which I started the other day and think is technically amazing but am starting to get a bit bored of.

For all its realism and all its possibilities, it's actually a bit let-down by what you can't do and what doesn't happen. For example, in certain instances you can shoot-off the lock on a pair of handcuffs, but there are buildings with doors that remain shut and locked for the entirety of the game. Certain events, items, quests etc will lock-off to you unless you do things in the way the game wants, creating ludonarrative distance. It's frustrating that such an incredible open-world game can so easily take you out of the experience.

In Witcher 3, I can waltz into someone's house and steal all their food and money without them reacting. If I walk into an empty house, I NEVER get anyone come into the room and ask "Hey what the HELL are you doing in here?", which is something I kept expecting to happen for the first few hours of the game. But if I so much as look at something in the streets of Novigrad when a guard is watching, I'll have the entire armed forces of Redania on my neck.

I really think that we've peaked in terms of graphics and sound, and it's time for developers to concentrate on the possiblities of creating open worlds that truly respond to the player's actions. I think RDR2 and Witcher have come very close to this, but it's about questioning why things DON'T happen in games that could or would happen in a real life context. I read a criticism of RDR2 recently that it was ultimately an interactive theatre piece - you can talk to the characters, shoot them, antagonise them, greet them etc; but you can't bribe them, or get them to help you or join you on your quest. In effect, we're quite far behind in those terms.

agreed!

i think open world design is kind of a dead end in that sense, it diverts so many development resources away from detailed interactivity when you have to populate a 100km^2 world.

the hitman games are a good example of what the other end of the spectrum can look like, smaller and much more dense and intricate sandboxes

Hitman sounds interesting. is there a good place to start? (PS4 only here)

Of course the absolute nadir is Cyberpunk which tried to cram so much into a massive open world city but ended up with talking mannekins for NPCs and Tonka toys for vehicles.

RDR2 has a ton of accessible interior spaces... a huge improvement over GTA5 (or RDR1), which had very very few.

Definitely get Hitman 3, which includes all of Hitman 1 and 2 as purchasable downloadable content.

i think hitman 2 has a free demo of the first level if you want to get a sense for what it's like.

3 just came out and yeah you can buy all the 1&2 levels as DLC for 3 if you like it enough to play the whole series

That's true. And if you get Hitman 2 you can import your level progress into Hitman 3 later.

RDR2 has a ton of accessible interior spaces... a huge improvement over GTA5 (or RDR1), which had very very few.

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Wednesday, January 27, 2021 4:56 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

True, and I'm not saying it doesn't. But so far it's mostly empty old shacks with a couple of cig packets lying around. I feel like the new generation of consoles should let you break in to every building if you wanted to. I'd want to be able to break open a back window, sneak in, loot some stuff, but also be consciously looking over my shoulder in case the owner gets home and catches me.

With Witcher, I'd like to be able to go down into the catacombs, but instead of just hacking and slashing my way past successional waves of monsters, I'd be doing my best to hide from a witch who is also somewhere down there, cackling away in one of the tunnels. At one point, I'd reach a chamber with a hidden treasure - but having given myself away, I hear a voice from behind.

I'm all for this new gen Hunt the Wumpus

would buy

Have you ever played Gone Home, Tracer?

i tried. it felt too much like “guess the secret thing to activate”

I'm just asking because it's the archetypal walking simulator - you just wander around the house occasionally finding notes, there's like three things that you can pick up and carry to somewhere else, there's nearly no 'gameplay' (by certain definitions that the game arguably pushes at) there. I've not played Heavy Rain but if there's things you have to do other than just walk around then I'd say that makes it not a great fit.

the thing about heavy rain is that it literally makes moving your body parts and incidental actions into “challenges” that you have to get right. it was unique at the time and kind of cronenbergy in an uncanny way but for me was eventually a little bit “ffs”

I get irked by lock picking mechanisms to find loot. Fuck learning door handle turning.

the thing about heavy rain is that it literally makes moving your body parts and incidental actions into “challenges” that you have to get right. it was unique at the time and kind of cronenbergy in an uncanny way but for me was eventually a little bit “ffs”

― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, January 27, 2021 9:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

The cursory first few minutes of Detroit that I played seemed to be like this. RDR2 is a bit like that too to a certain extent. this sort of thing (making day-to-day actions one would perform without thinking) into something complicated actually hinders immersion

yeah it's really bone-headed imo

ditto how difficult aiming your weapon is in most games where your characters is supposed to be an expert, hardened veteran

Detroit BH is basically a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' game with quicktime events instead of page turns. It picks up the pace occasionally but there is a lot of 'press R3 to comfort the orphaned girl' stuff, that feels like its just making sure you are still awake before playing the next part of the scene .

On the other hand, it has proven to be a great game to play with my wife, who is not a 'gamer' and definitely not into twitch shooters and the like. Its especially fun constantly making the worst possible moral decisions and watching her doubt her life choices.

Super Trippy PS4 Tetris or whatever its called has also going down well with her, great game.

I haven’t played heavy rain yet but i want to. From everything I’ve seen, it is a very cheesy b-movie that you watch and occasionally prod along by holding a button or something. I think it would be fun to play with non-gamers who like weird movies

there are a few games more explicitly made to scratch that itch, 'until dawn' for example