PS5 is on the way and I only own 3 games for the PS4! Please help

I hope my taste isn't too narrow, I appreciate any recommendations from you.

The PS4 games I own and love are RDR2, Uncharted 4, and Last of Us remastered. My wishlist is God of War, Ratchet and Clank 2016, inFamous Second Son, and Last of Us 2. (P.S. I own a PC)

I humbly declare that after 20 years of video games, I've lost patience for "gamey" or timesink games, and prefer well-crafted experiences that equally offer quality gameplay and story, and which progress with good pace and don't keep stalling. I've lost interest in games that seem like a long grind, or excessive amounts of slashing combat, or heavy on collecting things (examples: Horizon, Spider-Man, Nier Automata, everything by From Software, Days Gone, Devil May Cry). I also don't play JRPGs or Strategy games.

Based on that, please recommend great Playstation 4 singleplayer titles (which don't exist on PC).

Edit: So far this thread has added Horizon (my mind has been changed), Journey, Uncharted 3 (from the trilogy remaster), Colossus, Last Guardian, and perhaps Tearaway, to my wishlist.

Until Dawn

Shadow of the Colossus

The Last Guardian

Wish I had more to suggest, but your wishlist has the rest.

What aspects of Spider Man are you concerned about? If it's the combat, yeah, there's no real getting around that. If it's collecting things, I wouldn't worry. It's all optional. Note I'm biased, since I dig the character and loved the swinging.

Wow, did you not go for PS Plus at any point? I'll think a little outside the box for this:

• Journey
• Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (more palatable than the fully-fledged Phantom Pain)
• Doom?

This is hard. I'm trying to think of good games that are well paced. All my mind can go to are walking simulators or budget horror titles.

You might enjoy the Wolfenstein games. Also, if you mainline Arkham Knight then it's very well-paced (I ignored all the sidequests and open world shenanigans). Maybe the Zone of the Enders 2 remaster or Titanfall 2?

If you have Red Dead Redemption 2, you definitely have patience.

Skimmed through a youtube walkthrough of Until Dawn, this looks like it could be really compelling and non-pretentious, or it could be the type of "cinematic story" game that I dislike (like those Ellen Page games on the playstation). I will watch more to decide, thank you!

Colossus and Guardian, I've known about them forever, never looked into them adequately. They look really polished and potentially like a good interactive time, I will think about them a little more, thanks a lot for the reminder friend.

Regarding Spider-Man, I'm sure it's fun, but I've had that type of fun already in games like Prototype and all the similar titles. Travel back and forth in an un-exciting bland city with lifeless NPCs walking the streets, disable beacons on rooftops, collect magic shards from pigeon nests, Batman-fight some henchmen and disable their evil power generator, and so forth. I would put inFamous in the same category, but at least that franchise has this chilling ominous vibe to the world + really amusing electricity-based shenanigans. Btw If I'm wrong about Spider-Man please tell me!

Journey! I forgot that that exists. Now that I have a Sony machine, I should give it a shot, after watching a bit on youtube and deciding that the real-time pace is to my liking.

Can you tell me about the whole multiplayer aspect of it? I vaguely remember people online talking about meeting other players, and I had the impression that it's not good solo, am I wrong? The other two I played on PC, thanks! P.S. I do have PS Plus but I only use it for purchase discounts. The occasional free game never seems to align with my taste.

This is hard. I'm trying to think of good games that are well paced. All my mind can go to are walking simulators or budget horror titles.

Perhaps it's the fact that I'm nearing 30, but I think it's unfortunate how an astounding percentage of video games are either walking simulations, budget horror titles (you put it wonderfully), or silly pointless "cute" games with retro graphics. If not that, it's grind games that punish you by wiping your hours of progress (Dark Souls, Don't Starve), or "dodge and slash / dodge and shoot" games like Nier Automata.

It's fine solo. I had a player drop out through mine and it didn't phase me. It adds to it but playing solo doesn't lessen things.

I'm in the same boat, i really shouldn't have purchased a PS4, but it did allow me to play Gravity Rush...

I wouldn't put Soulsborne and Don't Starve anywhere near each other, to be honest, nor think that the former wipe your progress, but maybe that's beside the point if you've already made up your mind about that family of games.

To the point now, have you played Uncharted Lost Legacy? If not, it's a great spin-off to 4, and I'd argue better paced. If you liked 4, you'll probably love this one, too. What about the original trilogy in remastered form? Although, you'd probably be better off skipping the first one.

The Order 1886 maaaaaybe? I know I'm in the minority having liked this game, so take this with a great amount of salt :P

Yakuza 0

Honestly, with a lot more formerly-PS exclusives coming to pc in the past year or two- Yakuza, Ni No Kuni 2 (you wouldn't like), DQ XI (also wouldn't like), Journey, etc. - there aren't that many.

Is there a type of game you prefer to play on your PS4 setup (couch, controller) rather than whatever your pc setup is? Most PS4 games are either on pc (I would guess 85-90%) as well or would be on your no-thanks list.

It sounds like you don't want sports games, or rhythm games, or Telltale-like games, right? How do you feel about FPS? or racing games? Are you up for a game that is 80% mood, 15% gameplay, and 5% literal story (like Bound)? Trying to narrow down (or expand?) what you like about games to make good recs...

Some games that are on both, but you might enjoy on a couch - I second the Yakuza series (though the there is a clunkiness to all before 6), Witcher 3 (maybe not your type, as the combat is still clunky but you can adjust the difficulty to virtually play story mode), I haven't played it but I heard the Spyro trilogy is good/awesome? though I'm sure it's full of collectibles...

Sorry I have more questions than help, but as I got a PS4 for jrpgs and the games you dislike...I would probably be more helpful in listing games I like, so that you could avoid them, :]

Edit - oh, had a thought. What games do you like on pc? Might help us think of PS4 analogs

Well that is pretty much the list you pointed out. Considering you already filtered out everything else that would be recommended anyway. Also you're taste would be too narrow in terms of stuff that would be recommended on PS4 since you pointed that you owned a PC anyway and filtered out games that would only be PS4 exclusives. From what you shared it seems you like more story focused stuff and not necessarily something that is super heavy on gameplay (ie Souls games, DMC, etc.).

There is Uncharted Lost Legacy which is an off shoot, the Quantic Dream games (Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit: Become Human), then there is the games made be Team Ico already mentioned. You should just avoid Second Son since you disliked Spider Man and Spider Man is a much better game (still worth playing in my mind but I think you disliked having to deal with twitch based melee combat and the "open-worldness of it with the side stuff). When you said you don't like slashing combat, I'm not sure if you'll end up liking God Of War then since that is pretty much just melee combat the entire game.

Otherwise, that is pretty much it.

P.S. Im 31 and I still love the games you dislike. It's not a result of getting older and slower, you just like what you like. As you get older, you just end up knowing more of what you really like over time.

All already on PC. OP said he likes PS4 only recommendations if possible. The ZOE 2 remaster is on PC as well.

@volemaulder said:

Oh wow, and here I mourned the fact that Uncharted 3 doesn't have a PS4 version. Turns out it exists within this remastered package! Thank you.

Your first point: I simply like games that put enough effort into both. When it's story/universe time, they grip me completely, and when it's gameplay time, they also provide a proper satisfying set of mechanics that makes me want more (as opposed to rolling my eyes while I dodge around waiting for the action to end).

To your second point, yes I did worry that perhaps inFamous would be too Prototype-y and God of War would be too, well, God of War-y, but having looked into both of them, they truly offer this extra thing, this edge that makes the seemingly boring action (to me) actually entertaining. Something about the design and the "attitude" of the game (and the exceptional crispness of the controls and interactivity) raises these two games a step above all the similar titles. In other words, if you're gonna make me jump around rooftops blasting henchmen, or slashing a deity with my axe a hundred times, do it like these games.

@yourbrain: I appreciate your efforts to help, dude! In addition to my aforementioned wishlist, this thread added Horizon, Journey, Uncharted 3 (from the trilogy remaster), Colossus, Last Guardian, and perhaps Tearaway, to my wishlist. That's a good 10 games right there, more than enough for me. P.S. All 3 Witcher games are in my top 10 favorites.

Woah, I never knew that this legendary Playsation series (which I vaguely know) actually came to PC! and Yakuza 0 of all games, which Google tells me might be the best. Thank you, gotta play it on PC.

Bloodborne is a heck of a game

You said God of War is on your wishlist and that should rightfully be #1

Pick up Spiderman! I've seen it for like $20 and is easily one of the better games on the system.

Maybe this hobby simply isn't for you. Have you considered taking up a sport, or a musical instrument, instead?

@aerithlives: I would think that if they can love a whole bunch of high quality games, as it seems they do based on the fact they love the Witcher series, RDR2, and a good number of Sony exclusives, it's still a fine hobby to have! There's nothing wrong with very specific preferences and tastes.

Actually, Spider-Man isn't heavy on collecting things at all. Not only are the collectibles such a small time sink throughout the entirety of the experience (you can knock them all out from the get-go within an hour or two), they all have small bits of backstory, but also are totally unnecessary to do. If you want, your time can be spent freely going right through the story. There are multiple gang fights or what have you that can take up time and come up only after doing a certain percentage of the story, but they're also not necessary to finish the story. You're not slashing at things, you're punching dudes which is a lot of fun, and swinging through New York which is a blast and only becomes better the more natural it all feels.

Plus, it's one of those games that I love exploring the city just to look at, or perch atop buildings to soak in the atmosphere from its sights and sounds. It's actually quite awkward because you say Second Son is on your wishlist, and yet you say Spider-Man isn't for you because I'd argue that Spider-Man is much more fitting than Second Son considering what you want. It's also just a better game. That said, going back to Second Son on the PS4 Pro in 4k HDR, the game still looks very good albeit showing its age in spots of course.

Do the games you enjoy have to be big-budget AAA games or are you OK with something smaller scale? If so, Timespinner was a pretty cool Metroidvania game. Sonic Mania Plus is also a really cool game, and I say that as someone who doesn't even think that old Sonic was really all that good. Both of these are on PC as well but, being indie games, there's no reason not to get them on PS4 if you're looking for something to play on the PS4.

Also, you mention Uncharted 4 but not Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, which you should probably look into if you enjoyed Uncharted 4.

And there's also Bloodborne.

Otherwise, I can't really think of much to get on PS4 that isn't also available on PC that you haven't listed.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what else to suggest to you. Having a really good gaming PC usually means that you only have the consoles for a handful of games.

I've lost interest in games that seem like a long grind, or excessive amounts of slashing combat, or heavy on collecting things

See, you say this and then you put RDR 2 in your list of PS4 games. I haven't actually played that game yet, but that's because it looks like such a fucking slog to me.

Bloodborne and Rachet & Clank the movie the game or solid picks.

I’ve been playing games for over 30 years. I don’t think you’ve changed, I think games have. There’s always been an element of grindiness here and there, but it’s EVERYWHERE these days.

Anyhow, I love Nier:Automata, but it suffers from wasting your time a bit in act 2. There is a payoff, but I think act 2 could be truncated without that payoff suffering.

I’ll throw the Yakuza games out there too. I’m still working through them, but the side content is goofy fun that I wanted to see and the main plot is melodramatic gold. The games have time-sink mini-mames that can be played or ignored, but tend to be pretty damned enjoyable.

@ntm: Hmm, thanks for taking the time to write that. What I'm gonna do is watch a Spider-Man walkthrough and see the action and pacing in real time. If it's more than just a Prototype-style game and has actual effort and depth put into the world and gameplay, I'll pick it up.

Regarding inFamous, I said this in an earlier comment: "I would put inFamous in the same category, but at least that franchise has this chilling ominous vibe to the world + really amusing electricity-based shenanigans." .... "it truly offers this extra thing, this edge that makes the seemingly boring action (to me) actually entertaining. Something about the design and the "attitude" of the game (and the exceptional crispness of the controls and interactivity) raises it a step above all the similar titles."

Out of desperation for something fresh I decided to install KOTOR on PC (know it since forever, never played it), and I was so satisfied by how the game just isn't designed to waste my time. I'm only about 3-4 hours into it, but I can already tell that it wants to take me on a nice narrative ride in the Star Wars world with a bit of cool combat and a bit of going-back-and-forth questing, but it's all so light on the stomach if you catch my drift, as opposed to many titles today that will juuuust keep dragging along for no purpose.

I will check out your 2 indie suggestions, thank you.

To answer that ^ Red Dead Redemption 2 was 350 hours of absolute joy for me.

The only grind I felt was the few story missions before the Epilogue where you had to shoot 700 dudes, but that's to be expected of Rockstar. Otherwise, I can't think of a single thing the game presented that made me grind, or made me fight too much, or made me collect too much.

When a game freakishly and successfully makes you feel like you're physically out there inside the game world moving around with your own feet (like, YOU, not the character), any seemingly-mundane action becomes a thrill. You know how you get a bit of physical thrill when you work out or go outside and sweep the driveway? The reason it feels good is because you're right there in the middle of it, taking it in with your senses. That's exactly what RDR2 does. When I'm tracking an animal, I actually feel like I'm in an American forest in the 1800's trying to catch this elusive real-life animal, and if they're a predator I'm actually afraid they might see me. That's why I went hunting a thousand times and it always felt different and fresh. Crafting always felt satisfying because I actually felt like I'm stranded in no-man's land and needed my brews and cooked meats. Going into a general store to browse through the menu felt like I'm getting work done IRL.

And the story, my God, I did not expect Rockstar to outdo themselves like this, and I only have CDPR to thank because they obviously touched an R* nerve with Witcher 3's quality. Every single NPC interaction was compelling, every word uttered was worth hearing, that game was a time-machine to the wild west.

On top of that you have my favorite thing - polished interactive gameplay that kept me busy for hours. Just screwing around with the world and all the mechanics, trying to cheat the game by throwing my alligator skins into a boat in the swamp, and other such things. The amount of gameplay tips and tricks on Reddit was insane.

The most important thing was the balance between all the activities. If I'm sick of hunting animals I can immediately find a mission with some good firefights. If I'm tired of shooting, I can go to story-based missions with plot and dialogue. If I'm tired of that, I can go rob some shops, or just go into the snowy mountains in my heavy winter coat and take in the scenery. As opposed to something like Nier Automata where an endless fight with endless robots just keeps going on and will not end! I'm tired of slashing the little bastards.

@howardian: I’ve played some KOTOR this year, also because shit these days is more of a treadmill than a narrative experience. I agree. KOTOR moves with a purpose, even when you stop to smell the flowers.

@howardian: Sure, but Second Son is definitely nowhere near as good as the first game, and I'd probably even say the second. And okay? I don't really see the point in buying a game you just watched; it kind of ruins it and also perhaps doesn't sell the game since you have to have it in your hands to really get it I think. If that's something you do, then alright. I never did play Prototype although I kind of wanted to, somewhat, maybe? I just remember the discussions about it being compared to InFamous so it piqued my interest, but in the end, I never jumped into it. To me, Second Son is adequate but pretty underwhelming in many regards. Spider-Man is exceptional. It's obviously not perfect though, thanks mainly due to the many repetitive side tasks (mainly the clearing out enemy stuff).

They make you feel like Spider-Man doing them and the quality throughout is still great so I think the enjoyment while doing them isn't bad, it's just that it starts to become a chore if you choose to do them all regardless. That shouldn't deter you though as it's one of, if not the best superhero game to date, at least in my opinion. I will say though, my opinion changed slightly after I got a PS4 Pro mind you. Originally I thought it was one of the best games of the year, but it wasn't until I got a Pro and played it in 4k HDR that it more or less blew me away. I don't keep a lot of games on my consoles once I finish them, but Spider-Man is one of the games I keep on. Sorry to go on for too long, but one of the last thing I want to say is that it also has one of my favorite takes on New York City. I can't wait to see what the next game will do which will most likely be on next-gen.

It took the place of RDR2 (which I also still play from time to time) as my favorite game of last year. It's not as impressive in some ways, but the enjoyment level is higher.

@csl316: The side stuff in Arkham Knight is actually pretty good, it's just a bummer that you have to do them all to get the real ending.

@ntm: I meant skimming through a walkthrough for a while to see the gameplay in real-time

I did that last night and hey, I was totally wrong about the game. Very polished, good variety of action, and it looks like being the one holding the controller would feel really fun.

Thanks for the info! On the wishlist now.

@howardian: Oh, alright. And cool! Not sure if it's the best choice since some people complain about the controls, but how about the remake of Shadow of the Colossus? And/or The Last Guardian?

Edit - Whoops. Didn't see that you updated the original post. Never mind!

Just to weigh in a little bit with regard to the Infamous games. My experience with Second Son (and the spin off, what was it, Last Light or something?), having played and finished both of the previous games, was that SS was tighter and better paced, and, especially, the combinations of different elemental powers made it feel fresh and more interesting. In contrast, I thought the first two games, especially the first one, dragged on quite a bit and were kinda boring.

I haven't played Spiderman yet, although it's in my wishlist (I just need to find time for it), so I can't really comment on how SS might compare to it, I just thought I'd offer a different take on the Infamous games. I see most people preferring the old ones, and I can't really understand why.

@howardian said:

I've finished (100%'d) Yakuza 0, kiwami and kiwami 2, and Yakuza 0 is the best one imo, and also the cheapest. Highly recommended.

@nutter: @ntm: @captain_insano: @yourbrain: @mrgreenman: @mikewhy:

Just wanted to say if anyone's interested in feedback, that Playstation games are products of supreme quality.

While Journey, Uncharted 3, Second Son, and Ratchet 2016 were all super fun to beat, it is Horizon, Spiderman and God of War that are just astoundingly well crafted and enjoyable. The Spiderman people perfected the open world beat-em-up, the Horizon people made a jaw-dropping experience that makes me cozy up in a blanket whenever I play, but the one that takes the cake is God of War!! I honestly paused a couple of times to take in the excellence I just witnessed. Firstly the level design is brilliant with all the intricate loot-platforming. And the events in the game are insane. Releasing the warrior souls that were stuck beneath the big lake and watching them thank Kratos before disappearing gave such a sense of awe.

I thought Last of Us was a one-off in terms of perfection but these games are definitely competing.