Start of a new generation (PS5, XBOX Series)
and possibly...THE BEST YEAR EVER ?!?!?
Final mighty breath of the 8th generation
Cross-gen bonanza
Year of the Samurai
Cyber punk'd
Great year for VR
Many great Free-to-play offerings
Positives:
+ The story is an intense rollercoaster ride of emotions. I personally really enjoyed the direction they went with and thought it was bold and far more ambitious then the first game's plot. I cried, I felt angry, felt elated, this was an experience that stayed with me far after the game was done. Made me curious about a potential Part 3.
+ It was great seeing some of the older characters again, but I also enjoyed most of the new cast.
+ Lengthy campaign
+ Visual showpiece for the PS4
+ Level of polish and detail
+ Gripping and well made/well acted cutscenes
+ Great performances from nearly everyone . Some of the best in the biz.
+ Powerful Soundtrack that elevates and enforces the experience
+ Gameplay feels great and is a big step up from the first game.
+ Hauntingly beautiful environments
+ Great atmosphere
+ Level design is also really good with more larger spaces to move though and explore
+ Lots of accessibility features for those who need them.
+ Platinum trophy isn't tied to Very Hard Difficulty modes
Negatives:
- Accidentally progressing and not being able to backtrack to certain areas is a bit frustrating. Especially since it's not easy to tell sometimes what's the intended path and what's optional.
- Stealth kills could have used a few more different animations considering how often you will do them. Stealth in general could have used a few more options.
- A bit sad this one didn't launch with multiplayer as in the first one it was really fun and was a big surprise. Will launch later as a stand alone game apparently,
Positives:
+ One of the most consistently gorgeous games I have ever played. Must have said "Wow" dozens of times. Amazing looking world and environments. Serene mood.
+ Combat is good. Yes, it makes you feel like a badass samurai or deadly ninja.
+ The soundtrack is as good as you would expect and want.
+ Sound design is also good
+ The "guiding wind" is one of the coolest new mechanics in an open world game.
+ The world in general feels very alive and animated (grass and trees sway with the wind, leaves and other particles constantly fly around)
+ The acting is solid
+ Great characters
+ Great story
+ Good side-quests
+ Loved the various armors and other customization options.
+ Non-intrusive User Interface
+ Free Multiplayer DLC
+ Kurosawa mode is neat. Also glad they provided dual audio (Japanese and English)
+ Incredibly short load times for a game like this. A small taste of next gen maybe.
Negatives:
- Even though it makes great strides in fully immersing the player in it's world, it can still end up feeling very checklisty and repetitive at times (though not as bad as Assassin's creed)
- The character's lipsync isn't as good as it could be. Also the Japanese acting is synced to the english mouth movement which is weird as it should be the other way around to create that old samurai cinema feel.
- Some minor annoyances with jumping or navigating certain terrain.
- Some story moments don't hit as hard as they could have or are quite predictable
PS4 Pro
Positives:
+ People have been waiting for this game to happen for years and here it is. And It didn't suck.
+ Graphics are borderline CGI, most times.
+ The soundtrack is GOD tier.
+ Great looking character models
+ Some amazing looking backdrops and environments
+ Some of the best use of lighting in a game this gen.
+ Solid voice acting and performances across the board
+ Interesting take on a remake, makes me excited for the future of this series.
+ Game is lengthy and well made, stands on it's own despite being just one section of the first game.
+ Expanding the Midgar section was a great opportunity and I feel they delivered.
+ Some nice surprises along side classic moments from the original.
+ Probably the best incarnation of the modern non-tuned based combat system in the FF series.
+ Each character having their own playstyle and feel.
+ The whole end stretch is probably the highlight of the game.
Negatives:
- Not the full FF VII experience, just part 1 (I feel like they needed to specify that more)
- Plenty of low detail texture problems, the game can look real rough at times. Overall it is very inconsistent visually.
- Quite linear and confined. But makes sense given the section it's covering. Hope PART II is more open though.
- Might take quite a good couple of years to get the whole FF VII Remake people were promised. Hope you are patient.
- Some story bits, especially regarding the newly added elements, weren't executed as well as they could have been.
- Side quests aren't very great or exciting
- Not all chapters are great.
(in progress) PS4 Pro
Positives:
+ Amazing soundtrack from 2 of my favorite composers: Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner
+ Gorgeous landscapes, beautiful world to explore
+ Improved combat and animations over Origins and Odyssey
+ Brutal executions
+ Upgrading and customizing your camp and character
+ More interesting enemy types to fight
+ Plenty of content to sink hours in
+ Fem Eivor is another good female lead (same as Kassandra) in a series mostly full of male leads
+ Brings back some more "Assassin's Creedy" elements, where Odyssey felt pretty devoid of them
Negatives:
- Some sound issues
- Bugs, glitches and crashes
- Long long loading screens
- Same as Odyssey, it gets a bit to long in the tooth (Quantity over Quality design)
- Takes a while for the story to really get going
- At times it feels like it has everything and the kitchen sink, when it should have just focused and polished the more important elements instead.
PS4 Pro
Positives:
+ Most of the important characters look great and are interesting. Some solid character models/designs and notable voice acting + writing at times.
+ The world (while it often beaks) has a nice atmosphere and is a great backdrop for the game. Imposing, beautiful, deadly, atmospheric it's a pretty solid location all things considered.
+ At times it's really gorgeous to behold and you get really immersed.
+ Soundtrack is really good
+ Great collection of licensed tracks, lots of bangers. (though it might not be everyone's taste)
+ Liked the use of Japanese and Japanese actors
+ Some good heartfelt moments
+ Despite all the issues (and there are plenty) I was still compelled to come back and play more. Lots of things that damaged the experience, but nothing that really outright killed it for me.
+ Some of the guns feel alright to shoot.
Negatives:
- Performance is pretty spotty. This is a game meant for next gen machines.
- A myriad of bugs, glitches and crashes that just constantly chip away at the experience
- Felt a little bit cheated by having my first true view of Night City (Nomad Path) be a montage cutscene fast forwarding a lot of important moments in our character and his friend's journey.
-The lies and false marketing that took place leading up to the game's launch. A lot of hype was created then it suddenly deflated. Didn't live up to the vision it showcased to players.
- Vehicles handle like poo poo
- Enemy AI feels very poor and exploitable
- World can feel very empty at times because of relatively low population density.
- Had massive potential to be as big as something like GTA V, but it really killed it's long term staying power thanks to the terrible launch.
- Wasn't a huge fan of the stealth options
- Hand to hand combat is also very simplistic
(in progress) PS4 Pro
Positives:
+ Does a great job parodying JRPG's while also successfully becoming one
+ New combat system, while not immediately compelling, is a lot of fun and deeper then the standard button mashing of older titles.
+ Great visuals
+ Awesome soundtrack
+ Ichiban is a great new protagonist for the franchise
+ Companion characters are a cool add and are compelling
+ The trademark Yakuza nuttiness is in full force here, leads to loads of laughs
+ However that does not diminish the gripping serious tone of the main story
+ I enjoyed the beginning set up, even though it's a bit long winded.
+ Great acting once again from the cast (Played in Japanese)
Negatives:
- As with most JRPGs it takes a while to get going, but when it does it's really good.
- I enjoy them, but some people will be annoyed by the long and frequent cutscenes/ dialogue. Especially in the first part of the game.
Positives:
+ Seems to improve and add in every single area over the original, which was an already good game.
+ Some of the best gameplay in a game of this type, or maybe even in action games in general.
+ Lots of weapon types to try out, each with pretty different moves and playstyles
+ Loads of loot to get. Different armors pieces, weapons designs etc.
+ Souls Cores are a neat new addition that lets you harness some of the powers of fallen enemies.
+ Yokai form is also a nice evolution over what you had in the first game.
+ Character creation is pretty extensive and custom characters usually turn out pretty
+ Nice variety of enemies, environments and bosses
+ The ability to summon help from strangers (AI and Real Players) to get over tougher situations is a god send in a game like this.
+ The choice of an 60 fps mode is welcome
+ Fast loading
Negatives:
- Still think an easy mode wouldn't have hurt.
- Plays it very safe copying and pasting much from the first title.
- Tech wise it isn't the most amazing looking game out there (especially since you will want to runt it on performance mode)
- Similar to Doom Eternal, it can get a bit overwhelming with the amount of things you have to keep track of.
Positives:
+ So much potential.
+ An accessible way of letting people become game developers or artists in general.
+ Great way to uncover and recruit new talent for the industry
+ Great tool to incubate and try out new ideas
+ Love the overall visual style and various styles that are possible.
+ Surfing dreamverse and checking all the creations available.
+ Fast loading. Making it easy to get in and out of creations.
+ Motion control
+ Great value
Negatives:
- If you're a fan of long in-depth experiences/games (Outside of learning and mastering the tools that is), you won't find many at the moment. Including the content from Mm.
- Getting to "the fun" can take a while or you have to work for it (surfing the dreamverse, learning to create something)
Positives:
+ Gameplay is smooth and meaty (one of the best feeling FPS's of the gen)
+ Looks really good, and runs well.
+ Great audio
+ Soundtrack kicks ass once again
+ Combat forces you to be much more tactical
+ More environmental variety
+ First person platforming to break up the combat.
+ Enemy variety
+ Secrets and collectibles
+ Fortress of Doom
Negatives:
- Too many separate things to upgrade and keep track of. Keep it simple people, especially for a game like Doom.
- Misses some of the elegance of Doom 2016
- No Multiplayer is a bit of a bummer for me, it was pretty solid in the first one.
- The story..um well...exists.
- The Marauder is not very fun to fight
- Some of the platforming can be frustrating
PS4 Pro
Positives:
+ Being able to recruit and play as almost any character is cool
+ Recruiting your own team and seeing them chime in during story missions or objectives is also neat, ended up caring for some of them.
+ Pretty nice level of customization
+ Love all the different accents and ethnicity available for the characters
+ The in-game podcasts are genuinely good and gave me plenty of laughs
+ The British humor that permeates the game is well done I think (Bagley's pretty great, if a bit annoying at times)
+ World feels quite alive
+ Different ways to tackle some missions and objectives (a bit sanboxy)
Negatives:
- Some glitches and bugs
- Facial animations are't the best
- You see and hear quite a bit of repetition in the characters around you
- Forcing you into combat situations is not a good move (and one of the reasons I don't recommend Permadeath the first time round as it can lead to very frustrating outcomes)
- Spent a lot of time fast traveling around the map because objectives in the same questchain always seem to be placed really far from eachother
- Wished there was a mechanic where other team members could come in and save your ass (Similar to Far cry 2 or Shadow of War), or other ways to work together with them.
- Some abilities like the Blackout or the ability to turn rival factions against each-other are missing and it's a shame
- I spent almost the whole game using the one pistol
- The end was pretty disappointing, didn't even have a final boss or interesting final confrontation.
- Wished the soundtrack was a bit more memorable and interesting like the last two entries
Positives:
+ Looks great
+ Good atmosphere
+ Solid acting from most of the cast and I like Tommy in this better then in the original
+ Does quite a few things better then the original, including some of the small changes to the story
+ World is pretty to drive around, even though it's mostly just a fancy backdrop
+ Story is quite nice
+ Driving markers are useful
+ Soundtrack is good, feels very filmic
Negatives:
- Some missions can be quite frustrating
- Wished the sound design was a bit stronger
- Some bugs and glitches keep the game from feeling truly premium
- Gameplay is serviceable
Positives:
+ Pleasant colorful visual style
+ Fun world to explore
+ Good soundtrack
+ Great combat and movement options
+ Lots of little puzzles to solve
+ Challenging and clever dungeons
+ Good sense of progress
+ Plenty of stuff to do
+ A nice alternative to Breath of the Wild for those of us who don't own a Switch
Negatives:
- Not a huge fan of some of the character models, especially some of the faces
- The humor is really hit or miss and the accents can get a bit grating
- Facial animations are not the best
- Didn't need to be locked into an animation at certain times (crafting/upgrading, opening a chest etc.), it was cute the first time but gets annoying after a while
- Wished there were more options for creative encounters/combat like in Breath of the Wild (lighting something on fire and watching it spread and burn the enemies, have enemies pick up weapons and throw them at you or get hit by lighting). World doesn't feel as systemic as I hoped.
- One of the worst final boss fights I've run into in a while. Health pool for days, takes soo long to chop him down and it isn't even that fun or challenging but it's so long that you run out of potions and health (plus they take away your bird with the ability to gain back health), also no checkpoints between the different phases and if you die near the end (which is like aprox 20 min of hacking and dodging nonstop) you get sent back to the beginning. Couldn't even turn down the difficulty (was on Normal) to just be done with it. A huge waste of time, just watched the end on youtube.
(Unfinished)
Positives:
+ Coming back to the Cold War and acting as a sequel to the original Black Ops is neat, also has a Single Player again.
+ The gunplay feels good, again. But different from Modern Warfare (2019)
+ Soundtrack is solid
+ Good sound design
+ Made some of my favorite loadouts in the series. Also finally starting to feel good at the game online.
Negatives:
- Texture loading problems again, especially in the bigger maps (same as Black Ops 4)
- Fails to impress after last year's solid entry. Feels like this should have been the 2019 entry and Modern Warfare the 2020 crossgen one.
- Missing Blackout 2.0 is a bit of a bummer (even though Warzone has it covered)
Positives:
+ Gorgeous 2D artstyle
+ Godtier soundtrack
+ Feels good to play
+ Nice selection of characters
+ Offers a good selection of help for those less capable
Negatives:
- Can be awkward to hit enemies sometimes since they can be on a different plane then you
Positives:
+ Story was quite intriguing
+ Liked the characters
+ Dogfights are a blast
+ Multiplayer is exhilarating
+ No micro transactions or other bullshit
+ Like the look of the cockpits and the various trinkets you can add to it.
+ Diverting power to the various functions is a cool idea and adds to the strategy
+ Sound design
+ Soundtrack
+ Visuals
+ Accessible
Negatives:
- Feels like the game had a dialogue tree option but was taken out last second
Positives:
+ The beginning of the campaign is pretty good.
+ Kamala Khan is a nice protagonist
+ Some environments and some character models can look pretty good
+ Each avenger has their own diverse moveset and playstyle.
+ Combat's deeper then you'd think. Enjoyed leveling up my character and learning new moves.
+ Pretty impressive having 4 superheroes on screen at the same time going wild with their powers against a bunch of of enemies on a pretty sizable map (if only the framerate would keep up all the time)
+ The AI does a pretty good job supporting you when going in solo. It's nice that they also keep all your equipped gear and stuff.
+ Free DLC and new characters keep you coming back sometimes (though I wished it was more frequent)
Negatives:
- Framerate is all over the place on the Pro, on high performance mode mind you.
- Feels quite janky and buggy. Doesn't have the same level of polish and quality as Marvel's Spider-Man.
- Some character designs are pretty generic.
- The portrayal of the characters, while good on it's own, just feels off compared to the real Avengers. The writing also doesn't help. Except for Kamala and MODOK which don't have big screen representatives yet.
- Repetitive mission design
- Falls short of it's own ambitions at multiple points
- Long Loading screens
- End game doesn't seem that enticing
Comes together with Resident Evil Resistance
Positives:
+ Looks gorgeous same as RE2, maybe a bit better (RE engine is great on PS4)
+ Runs very well (60 fps)
+ Like Nemesis's new design. Heck, all of the redesigns are great overall.
Negatives:
- Omits some content from the original :(
- Doesn't feel as full fledged as RE2 was
- Had the opportunity of expanding on the cool premise of the original, but chose to play it very safe (feels like a bit of a waste considering who knows when we'll get another R3make)
Positives:
+ It's free
Negatives:
Positives:
+ It's free
+ Fun and replayable
+ Appealing art style
Negatives:
- Bit slim on content at the moment
Comes together with Resident Evil 3
Positives:
+ Looks gorgeous same as RE2, maybe a bit better (RE engine is great on PS4)
+ Runs quite well (60 fps)
+ Cool premise for a multiplayer RE game. appreciate them trying something different
+ Added some new content for free
+ The mastermind is a cool and unique role, also you get to control RE enemies
Negatives:
- Micro-transactions in a game you technically paid for (as part of RE3)
- Should have been a stand alone Free to Play offering, to get more people to try it.
- Not having crossplay is a damn shame, could have used all the extra players it could muster
- Lends itself easily to griefing (players wasting time, masterminds spamming taunts)
Positives:
+ It's free
+ Doesn't feel cheap or lazy. Quite competently made
+ Appealing visuals overall
+ Closest thing to a Breath of the Wild for non-switch owners
+ Competent voice acting
Negatives:
- A bit too Anime for some
- Some stutters on PS4 Pro. Performance isn't all the time crisp
(Unfinished)
(Unfinished)
Positives:
+ More accessible then Wasteland 2
+ Full voice acting is always really impressive and a god-send in these kind of games
+ Combat is X-COM lite, making it fun to get into and play
+ Like the premise and overall story
+ Love the special close up shots of some of the characters (wish it happened all the time or more often)
+ Some nice use of licensed tracks
+ Doesn't take itself too serious all the time and has some nice humor
Negatives:
- Very buggy
- Graphics don't impress much
- Long loading screens when going to new areas is always a bummer (though not as bad as PoE Deadfire)
+ Fun co-op shooter
Positives:
+ Being the Predator is cool
+ Playing as the Fireteam isn't a terrible alternative either, I liked being hunted by the Predator.
+ Looks fine and plays ok
+ Fun and replayable
+ Dutch tapes were a neat little inclusion, if you like hearing Arnold speaking.
Negatives:
- Finding a match as the Predator takes too long most of the time.
- Feels like there isn't much content to speak of (as of now)
- Could use a bit more variety in it's environments.
(Unfinished)
Positives:
+ Authentic graphical style
+ Good crash course into the DBZ world, characters and 4 of the major story arcs
+ Voice acting seems to be true to the show and is usually goofy and good
+ Some of the cinematics are really well made, wish there were more of them
+ Battles are tough and make you want to get stronger/better
+ Big areas to fly around in filled with easter eggs for fans
Negatives:
- Sometimes enemies can be a bit too "spongy" and battles can end in frustration
- Some objectives are clearly filler and tedious
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Positives:
+ Appealing visuals
+ Goofy casual harmless fun, felt needed this year.
+ Good palate cleanser
+ Neat idea and pretty good execution
Negatives:
- Should just have been free forever
- Not all stages are great
- Bit slim on content at the moment
(Unfinished)
Positives:
+ It's free
Negatives:
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Positives:
+ If this is your first time experiencing Persona 5, congrats on experiencing the superior version.
+ Despite the annoyance, it is pretty nice that they went back and improved Persona 5's legacy. With all the new additions this version is one of the best JRPG's of all time.
Negatives:
- The fact that this wasn't some sort of upgrade or DLC to the original, making you buy the same game twice. It's no short game either, having to dump another 100+ hrs just to see all the new stuff is a crazy ask for most people.
- Creates a precedent where it's harder to buy a new Persona game at launch, just wait for the "complete" edition.
*This is one of the best games of the generation, the only reason I'm not putting it higher on the list is that it's more of a rerelease and Persona 5 already had it's time to shine.
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