#best cheap ps4 games

[gamescardblog]

Best Cheap PS4 Games: Top Deals for Gamers on a Budget

Shop the best cheap PS4 games offering great gameplay and entertainment at affordable prices, with a wide range of popular titles to suit every gamer’s taste.

[thirsty-4-ghouls]

No one has been more convincing about encouraging me to play fallout new Vegas than the queer people in my phone. Literally every straight man I know in real life could not be half as convincing as the autistic queer people on this website

[tackyink]

This was supposed to be for @asususasa but in the middle of writing I thought this could be useful for someone else, so here's Tacky's general list of otome recs. It took me over an hour to write so I'm not proofreading it.

DS

Not much to say here because back in those days otome games didn't get localized. The stand outs are Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love Plus and Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2nd Season, who have English fan translations. Slice of life games where you play as the protagonist through her three years of high school. And if you feel like a student-teacher romance that would make Sakura Kinomoto's mom proud, these are your games.

PSP

Still well into the no localizations era with one exception: Hakuouki Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. Not recommending it on PSP because there are better versions. Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3rd Story Premium also has a fan translation and should be played over its DS counterpart because it has added functionalities. Sadly this time around the teacher is a secret character and a shota.

3DS

There's Hakuoki Memories of the Shinsengumi. Still not recommended because we can do better.

PS3

Hakuouki Stories of the Shinsengumi includes the original game and the fandisk with some neat animations added. This is the version to play if you want the original experience. If you want even more routes, go for another version.

Vita

Hakuoki Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, Collar x Malice and Amnesia are the best games you can get for the Vita imo. Some people dig a lot the Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk and Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly (I've only played BB, it was good but wasn't the best; wouldn't rate it as high as the others). There's Code Realize and its two fandisks (Future Blessings and Wintertide Miracles) and many people swear by them, but while I liked the common route in the first game, the rest didn't do it for me. You can find all of these except CxM and the CRs on Steam, and the Hakuoki games get dirst cheap on sale. Best bang for your buck of the saga. The CR games have PS4 ports and CxM has a Switch one, which you already know.

Switch

*rolls up sleeves* LET'S GO.

To get it out of the way: Hakuouki KW and EB are getting a Switch rerelease and a new translation and will be released as a single game, Hakuoki Chonicles of Wind and Blossom, on August 1st.

Collar x Malice fucking nails the mystery and lowkey horror vibes with and excellent plot that's interconnected in every route. CxM Unlimited is its fandisk and only recommended if you really have the CxM itch, because it's mostly fluff and the little plot there is is at most functional. It has a route where Ichika joins Adonis and you get to see its inner workings though. That was very interesting.

Bustafellows is 100% found family vibes with a very assertive protagonist. It's a mystery/action story and the team dynamics are sort of Ocean's 11-ish. Hilarious, heartbreaking at times, I've never felt more dread in a game than heading towards the basement in a certain's guy's route. There are two unlockable stories after you finish the routes of the guys, one of which I thought was glorious, another which sets up a sequel and is a big downer but I also really liked. It gets heavy at times with murder, suicide, sexual assault, human trafficking, among other kinds of violence, but despite it, it's generally a very funny and upbeat game. We're getting the sequel next year. Also available on PC.

Café Enchanté baits you with the premise of being a girl who manages a coffee shop patronized by handsome supernatural beings, so it's a real surprise when the cannibalism shows up. Anyway. Great game, but I'm afraid saying more would kind of defeat the point. Reminds me of Megami Tensei games, so if coffee shop AUs with supernatural world-ending threats are your thing, go for it. Just be warned that the fandom has kind of collectively agreed that poster boy's route never happened.

Birushana is a hidden gem that goes on sale super cheap and is also probably a hit or miss thing. You play as the legendary Yoshitsune, who in this game is a girl disguising her gender, but she's an amazing warrior as in history. It has the best otome couple I've ever seen, bar none, with Yoshitsune and Noritsune. The game is worth the price just to see them fall in love on the battlefield and watch Noritsune chug down Respect Women Juice all the way through it. The thing is... the rest of routes aren't great. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed how utterly unhinged they got at times, but the plot got worse as it deepened. Still. Noritsune. And I loved that most of the guys respected her as a warrior and were aware she was as capable or a better warrior than them and she didn't need a man to protect her. Very refreshing. One of my faves got done dirty by the translation because they started pulling lines out of thin air to make him creepier. Just him. Why. It's not like he needed the help.

Virche Evermore Error Salvation is also a good one if you can handle continuous drama and see egregiously bad science and say, "You know what? It's magic. Humans in this world are just built different." The worldbuilding is really interesting and the characters very enjoyable, though they don't feature a lot in each other's routes or aren't that friendly with each other. The continuous tragedy may tire you out, or maybe it'll work and emotionally destroy you. It didn't get any emotional reaction out of me until a certain point near the end, but I enjoyed the game a lot, nevertheless. We're getting the sequel this November and I'm really looking forward to it.

Variable Barricade: a fun romp where a young heiress has to chose a fiancé among the four disaster bachelors her grandpa has selected. It's not really similar to Ouran, but it reminded me a little of it at times. It's a pretty light game. The BFF is a gothic lolita otaku who has the time of her life shipping you with the guys, and the butler... oh boy the butler.

Amnesia, as I mentioned earlier, has a PC port as well as the Vita version, as well as two localized fandisks for the Switch (Amnesia x Crowd) that I can't speak of because I haven't played them yet. The protagonist has supernatural amnesia and must piece together her life while avoiding that other people realize she's lost her memory. It's a super intriguing game the first time you play, really nailed the being completely and utterly lost in the protagonist's shoes. A required play to get in on the cage jokes. It's sort of a rite of passage for otome gamers.

Jack Jeanne has probably the best group dynamics of any otome I've seen. I think some people have issues with the protagonist because they find her passive, but to me she felt the complete opposite. Everybody is adorable. A sentimental story of hard work, being young and and fighting for your dreams, 10/10, no notes. I lied, there's a note: Tanakamigi deserved a route! Where is our Tanakamigi route! щ(゜ロ゜щ)

Last but not least at all, the two Piofiores. Mafia games where all trigger warnings you can think of apply. Well, maybe not the cannibalism, that's still Café Enchanté's crowning glory. Fated Memories, the first one, has its ups and downs, but has very enjoyable characters, rock-solid worldbuilding, an amazing atmosphere set in 1920s Italy with a jazzy soundtrack that ends up living rent free in your brain. The last routes of the first game, Gil's and Finale, are worth the full price of the game alone. Piofiore Episodio 1926 is a masterpiece of the otome genre. It doesn't have a single boring route, and the final stretch (Advent Calendar-Alternativa-Secret Character route) has the best writing I've seen in an otome. Lots of points of view and situations interconnecting, an excellent final couple, top notch interactions between the main characters. Just the best.

[official-brennivin]

Also uhm.

This blog is about videogames technically, I know.

I've played both of the ps4 spider-man games this year and they bewitched me. Beautiful and so so fun and so damn satisfying to play honestly. Peter Parker is perfectly balanced between being endearing and being an annoying little dweeb I wanna shove into a locker. Miles Morales is characterised perfectly (my sweet little boy my dearest son whom I love so dearly) and I was also pleased that Miles' game didn't shy away from the themes of race trauma that come with his narrative. The dynamic with him and the Tinkerer felt right, it felt like it was hitting some important points about the trauma of growing up a working class person of colour and the precariousness of your opportunities and future in a way that I felt some connection with - a very nice story I think, even if it was shorter than I anticipated.

The story being slightly shorter than I would have liked though, it kind of balanced out a bit by how rich it is with detail and characterisation. All of the characters in Miles' narrative are given just enough development and attention, so I don't feel entirely cheaped out by the story being short.

Plus the side stories are adorable, exploring Miles' journey of self discovery as he establishes himself as both a 'second spider-man' but also as a young man of colour working in a role that is associated with whiteness. I feel there was a lot there that helped strengthen the player's connection with him. (I'm biased, of course, being a brown hispanic person who always felt some connection with Miles Morales lol)

There were points in Spider-Man Miles Morales that made me feel pangs of real emotion, you know, which means they certainly did a lot of things right.

Oh, and that one side story in which he and the Prowler work together to produce a little song with the samples his dad wanted to make music with??? Oh, you best believe I melted into a little puddle on the floor because it was so beautiful. I've always had a special attachment to Miles' interest in music because hey, I was also a little hispanic boy who used to hog the computer for hours to play around with my silly little experimental beats when I was in primary school. Dude, I've been him and I am him. Made me feel so many things.

Overall, I think I was impressed by the sheer amount of stuff there was to do in the first one and how much they managed to fit into the game... But in terms of writing and characters I think Miles Morales was a far better experience for me. There were so many points where I felt emotional playing it, connecting deeply with it as a nerdy hispanic POC, so kudos for that.

There's the obvious things you've probably heard before, too - the movement mechanics being extremely satisfying and cathartic, the environments and sounds being super engaging... Even simply swinging around through New York feels really fun, which is 100% vital for any Spider-Man game. Since the ps2 era, nobody wants to play a Spider-Man game that doesn't have smooth and satifying movement mechanics. These games absolutely impress in that regard, of course. I'm soooo late of course, because when the games originally came out I couldn't afford them but I'm so glad I got copies and played them through. They were so worth it!

[blindrapture]

I have been in full-on Recluse Mode lately. in the interest of communicating a little more, let me share with you what games I have been playing lately:

MyHouse.wad (finally! had been meaning to play this for years. I have gotten the default ending and might maybe try to look for more branches of the maze when I feel up to facing all those monsters again.)

FAITH: The Unholy Trinity (fuck, finally, someone made a good horror game. I have gotten the best ending in chapters 1 and 2 and have made it to the final boss of 3.)

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (ah! wow! this is not my kind of horror game. it's honestly a kinda average adventure game but one that has subject matter that makes me feel gross and depressed and not want to play it. which probably means other people will like it a lot more than me, as I am coming to terms with the fact my tastes *are* weird.)

Who's Lila? (oh wow... I was so curious about this one but it's *also* a kinda average adventure game? albeit with a Mario Party minigame permanently attached to the screen that you have to keep playing. the Easy Mode just gives you a lot more time to do that, which is a sign that the developers were simply unable to balance it properly and had to give you a bandaid solution. I may have to just watch some YouTuber play this one, as the story *probably* gets good!)

Cyberpunk 2077 (I found a surprisingly cheap PS4 at a local pawn shop and picked this game up with it. the PS4 is good for watching blu-rays, even more convenient than a dedicated player. for gaming it is *comically* bad. I may have a bias against PlayStation, the fucking failure of a brand whose first-party properties have serious "AI-generated corporate brand" vibes.... but I thought I was just being stupid! but no! the PS4 cannot game. the controller feels like cheap plastic, and the console itself has a cooling fan with the volume of a jet engine and it will *shake my entire bedroom* if I want to play any game, any game at all. even doom 2016, which it should be more than capable of running. the *menus* on doom 2016 push the PS4's fans into overdrive, there is no refuge. in cyberpunk I can at least pause the game every 30 seconds and wait 20 seconds for the fans to go silent, before unpausing and playing for another 30 seconds. ....it's fucking awful. gaming with a permanent headache, my whole body assaulted with noise and vibrations. .......but uh, Cyberpunk itself honestly seems like fun. I don't really give the slightest shit about the aesthetic, but to my surprise they buried a perfectly good game under there. can't say the same about Sony and any perfectly good gaming consoles, though. the PS2 was the last competent console they released, and that's the one I have a *grudge* against, because It killed the Dreamcast. for what!! for decades of garbage consoles afterwards?? get a damn Xbox. or, when you want to actually play games for real and stop fucking around with these childish insecure "GAMING FOR ADULTS" aesthetics, just get a fucking Nintendo, like god intended. mic dropped.)

Doom 2, in QuestZDoom. (in VR. I have the first three Dooms just.. permanently installed on my quest 2, along with Half-Life. this is admittedly still one of the coolest things ever, that I can just play these games in VR whenever I want. anyway, I have never actually played through Doom 2. never done it. never even tried to. so my first playthrough is in VR. I average about 10 maps a day, on the easiest difficulty because I have no shame. I did not know just how troll-y Doom 2 was. I also did not know everyone was just *wrong* about the city levels, I'd always heard the city levels sucked! but no! they're the best part!! I had a blast with the city levels!! god I LOVE mazes!!!)

oh yeah, also, Starfield. (I managed to find a mod that forces the game to not use 4k textures, and that actually solved most of my performance issues. it still stops to load every now and then, but it hasn't crashed to desktop in a long time now. so I went and finished a quest. I do *kinda like* Starfield, I like the promise of freedom, and I automatically love anything that's first-person. I wouldn't mind actually *playing through* Starfield. I already like it more than any Fallout game-- that's just a bias, I find mass media's fixation on Wasteland Post-Apocalyptica to be boring as hell, to the point of ruining whatever good there is to find in the media itself. but it is not as good as Skyrim. maybe it could *compete* with other Bethesda games if it.. was actually optimized properly? but then it wouldn't be a Bethesda game.)

and yeah, I think that's it.

will get back to you when I play more video games.

[sntechsupport]

what is the best way to get a skateboard early into the game? I prototyped a copy of Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 for the PS4 (TONYHAWKSPRITE, BABY), and, as expected, there is now an in depth trick system and all of the imps have skateboards.

This was hilarious and completely intended, and i have no regrets in the SLIGHTEST.

But unfortunately, the skateboards are now classified as part of their body, and therefore, are turned into grist with them when killed. I was kinda banking on just taking one from them. And also i have a sneaking suspicion that skating gives scaling stat increases.

There are many way to alchemize a cheap skateboard, but it requires some wheeled mode of transport. A bicycle. Roller skates. A train. Heelys. And && some sort of a board to it.

Sincerely

SN Tech Support (Gear)

[smash-or-pass-otome]

Pro tip for Code Realize: It's a console only title at the moment. Your best bet to find it cheap would be to get the PS4 editions. You can find those cheap online or go to your local gamestop periodically.

Right now the game on switch appears to be out of print physically, but you can get the digital only version for pretty decent price during sales.

I have yet to find any emulation versions of the game. A pity, because the game is just that good.

I was thinking I might just digitally buy it on the switch next time it's on sale.

Edit: I did just put the PS4 version on my Amazon wishlist. Maybe I'll ask about getting it for my birthday

[dragon-pawz]

I think everyone should play Okami. It’s a gorgeous game with a great story and you play as a doggie (who is also a god)

It’s very easily accessible too since it got an HD remaster recently. It’s available for CHEAP ($20 or less) on Switch, PS4, Xbox, and Steam. Imo the Switch version is the best experience tho because of the motion controls making the drawing mechanic more fun and responsive

[blazehedgehog]

In one of your earlier posts, you said Sony is being snooty. What did you mean by that?

In the back and forth of the game industry Sony has been many things. There was a period where, hot off the success of the Playstation 1 and Playstation 2, Sony clearly felt invincible.

This lead to one of the most famous E3 press conferences ever, where they announced the Playstation 3. The original pitch for the Playstation 3 was insane.

Sony's Ken Kutaragi was saying it was going to have something like 7 USB ports and 2 HDMI ports. When they announced the price of $600, they were out there talking about how they wanted the PS3 to be "The Ferrari of Video Games." They wanted it to be a status symbol, something you needed to work two jobs to afford. If you had a lot of money to burn, you had a Playstation 3.

It was a disaster for them, and they were severely humbled for it. Within a year of launch, Ken Kutaragi was out. It took them four or five years total to really recover and finally get the Playstation back in the right direction.

This lead to the opposite direction for the Playstation 4: ironically, all the hubris that damaged the PS3 was passed on to Microsoft, after the success of the 360. Amid swirling leaks that the Xbox One was clamping down on used games, and forcing you to always be online, Sony came out to a roar of applause that the PS4 would be a normal game console. No online limitations, no weird TV or set-top-video features. Just regular video games like you've always known them. And the balance of power shifted again back in their direction, making the Playstation 4 the best-selling game console that did not carry the Nintendo logo.

Now back on top, all the people responsible for making the PS4 into this friendly, welcoming, all-inclusive thing have had their roles reduced or they have left the company entirely. And we're right back to the same Sony that gave us the PS3: The Playstation 5 is a $500 game console with a $550 VR add-on and a $200 "elite" controller. It solidified the trend of $70 being the new normal for game prices.

And those $70 games, what is becoming the "Playstation House Style," are all things that almost seem ashamed to be video games. They'd much rather convince you they're big budget movies or prestige TV shows on a streaming service. Sure, there's equippable gear and stats and quests if you really look at them, but the image they project is something "bigger and more important than just video games."

Playstation is a brand for People Who Can Afford It and are lucky enough that their number comes up during the waiting list lottery. Playstation is a brand that will do the bare minimum to support their back catalog of past-generation titles because they'd much rather you be spending all your money on the newest, full price ($70) products instead of replaying your old PS2 games on the cheap.

And if you really, really, really want to play PS2 games on your Status Symbol console? Well, for the low low price of $120 a year, you can experience their mediocre official emulators and the table scraps of filthy retro games they bother to support. As long as your payment never lapses, of course.

It's kind of gross if you look at the complete picture all at once like this.

Edit: Ironically in the time since writing this post and it getting posted, Sony's Jim Ryan did something legitimately extremely arrogant, furthering the points I make here.

[eleminim]

Ps4 games I recommend !!!!

Bioshock 1 and 2

Highly recommended, it's a First person shooter but maaaaan it's world and story is insane good

10/10 highly recommended

Tomb Raider - any of them

You already know, it's really good feel they could of leaned into the horror more tho

The Last of Us

If you want a game that's story driven this is it. Zombies and open world. Really good

9/10

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

- another looooong game. Its one of the best role playing games that exists. Sort of long tho

Love it, 9/10

Hogwarts Legacy

More modern ( released just this year) If you appreciate Harry Potter (notice I didn't even say be a fan) you ll looove this. Very good story great mechanics to make you feel like a wizard

10/10

Batman

No words needed. Any of them would do. Should be cheap by now ( though Arkham City is the best one and i recommended that one)

10/10

.... I mean you play as the Batman. No more is needed to be said.

Control

Highly recommend this one for you. I would actually buy it for you no joke. The less said the better about this game I liked it a lot. It was described as if Twin Peaks and The X-Files had a crossover episode that was actually a video game. That’s essentially what Control is, a creepy-spooky third-person action game

9/10

Persona 5

A weird anime game looool. Really quirky. Play as a teenage kid talking to girls and part time girls and you'll spend your time in the supernatural metaverse breaking into the psyches of dangerous criminals and changing their hearts with arcane magic and the help of a talking cat

Bit of an acquired taste ngl

Stray

Soooo cuuuuuteee. You play as a cat it's just tooo cuute

Uncharted

You like Tomb Raider? Try this one out I think it's a better execution of the concept I actually really recommend this one

10/10

I ll send a horror one if you want but idk if you are onto that

@mhtyr I have a present for you, it was delivered to the wrong address 😅

[weatherman667]

Darksiders 2:  Deathinitive Edition (PS4)

Darksiders is one of my favourite game series of all time.

That is, Darksiders and Darksiders II.  The other games were made by another company, and are at best cheap knockoffs.

Darksiders I took the best elements of Devil May Cry and the Legend of Zelda, along with great elements from other games.

Darksiders II was not quite as good, but was a very different game and so still a job to play.

In Darksiders, you play as the Horseman War.  He fights in a rather straightforward way.  He was accused of starting the Endwar, a betrayal of everything he believes it.  He cuts a bloody swathe through demon hoasts trying to prove his innocents.

In Darksiders II you play as the Horseman Death.  He is wracked by guilt over being a Kinslayer, (to save Eden).  He knows he cannot prove War’s innocents, not because he’s not innocent, but because it’s an obvious setup.  So, his solution, instead is to undo War’s sin, and bring back the Kingdom of Man.  He travels across many of the realms in the crumbling cosmos as he faces the consequences of his own decisions.  Death’s is far more agile, and has to move in and out of combat.

The real downside is that they decided to go modern, and by modern I mean copy WoW.  They also added the modern non-menu menus.

When I say copy WoW, I mean have enemies randomly drop random items, colour-coded by rarity, (literally using WoW’s colouring).  This kind of works for the secondary weapons, but not for Death’s scythe(s).  Death carries a pair of scythes that both collapse, and combine together into a much bigger scythe.  This only seems to make sense if his weapon is as rare as War’s.  So, it’s rather disconcerting when you find a new pair of scythes every few minutes.

The real problem, gameplay wise, is that on the PS3 wasn’t powerful enough to manage this with the non-menu menu system.  You would often end up waiting every time you change a page.  The PS4, however, is powerful enough to dramatically reduce these wait times, making the game a LOT more playable.

The rest of the update is exactly what they did to Darksiders I:  Warmastered Edition, they increased the fidelity of the graphics without increasing the polycount.  This can look a little off, but the graphics are better than in the original.

They didn’t fix any of the minor problems from the original, but fucked up Dust. Dust is a crow who’s been following you around for Aeons.  In the original Darksiders II you can call Dust at any time, and he would fly in the direction you needed to travel.  Think the Winds in Ghost of Tsushima, but years ahead of it.  This isn’t necessary to the game in any way, but it did provide a really nice way to indicate where you should be going, without being patronizing or obtuse about it.

As for the weapon system, there is something good about.  They have Possessed equipment.  These can be fed other items, and leveled up.  Each level, you pick one of the available option, and each time it levels up, the statistics it already has all increase a well.  This is an actually fantastic item system, and almost justifies the annoying item system, but then again, they could have just had the weapons level up like they do in Darksiders, and have the level up come with the trait choice.  The game also adds truly legendary weapons that have storied histories, but are rendered nearly useless in 30 minutes, as you pick up a better weapon.

[gamescardblog]

Best Cheap PS4 Games That Offer Amazing Gameplay for Less

Quality games don’t have to be expensive! Explore this list of the best cheap PS4 games that provide thrilling gameplay and immersive worlds at a fraction of the usual price. Featuring both well-known favorites and indie surprises, these games prove that affordable gaming can still mean epic adventures and endless excitement. Perfect for savvy gamers!

URL: https://www.gamescard.net/game-category/ps4-game/

[whymustyouhurtmeinthisway]

Fuck it I’m bored

Top 5 favourite video games of all time

5. Monster Prom

Initially introduced to me by Twitch Streamer Shenpai, the Monster Prom series has become a favourite among me and my friends, and I’ve fallen in love with the characters and universe (with Zoe in particular probably being in my top 5 characters of all time, a list I might make another time). This series is the source of so many fun memories with my friends (with the first game being my favourite), and it’ll forever be in my heart. In terms of individual games however, Monster Prom doesn’t fully stack up to the others on this list (though it is really good and I recommend it), so in fifth place it goes

4. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

I was very fortunate as a child that my very first Kirby game ended up being considered one of the best of the entire series. I adored this game as a kid, and it definitely affected me deeply on a psychological level, even to this day. Everything about this game’s artstyle, music, characters, bosses, and powerups still sticks in my brain, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving it. I think Dedede’s design in the remaster is a downgrade, but other than that this game as a whole is flawless.

3. Guilty Gear Strive

Those familiar with my blog know that the Guilty Gear series is one of my greatest passions, almost to a concerning degree. Though I’d already been acquainted with the series before this game, Strive was the one to get me fully into it, and I’ve heavily enjoyed playing it since the moment I bought it. The game’s artstyle and soundtrack is top notch (Daisuke Ishiwatari is a god amongst men), and Strive Leo is one of the most fun fighting game characters I’ve ever played. You may be wondering “why is it only at #3 then?” and the answer to that is similar to Monster Prom’s: I love the entire series more than I love any individual game, so I’m rating it lower on this game ranking than I would on a series ranking (on which it’d definitely be top 2). For now though, Strive holds a respectable spot at #3.

2. No Straight Roads

I love this game man. After hearing of it in passing occasionally online, I saw it was on sale on PS4 and decided to try it. From what I’d seen (basically just the game’s title and a few character designs) I expected a dialogue-heavy visual-novel-type game in which your dialogue choices change the path of the story (hence the name No Straight Roads) but I was dead wrong. What I got instead was an awesome rhythm-based bossfight beat-em-up in which an indie rock band named Bunk Bed Junction fights to overthrow NSR, the tyrannical music label that's taken over their city, featuring a fantastic artstyle, incredible OST, lovable characters, and loads of passion infused in every single aspect. Due to the indie nature of the dev team, some jank can be found in various areas, but I'll always be more than willing to excuse that in exchange for such a wonderful product overall. The game's fairly cheap and available everywhere, and I highly recommend that everyone reading this buys it and supports the dev team. ALSO TO THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW THERE'S A LIMITED TIME OFFICIAL SAYU PLUSH AVAILABLE ON MAKESHIP UNTIL THE 20TH GO BUY IT!!!

1. Final Fantasy X

I don't have an explanation for this one really, it just hit me a certain way. Please ignore the fact that I haven't actually beaten it yet, the Yunalesca fight is too hard and I gave up. Good game though.

[zachsgamejournal]

COMPLETED: Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New 'n' Tasty

Within the past couple of years I played through the original again and absolutely loved it (to the best of of memory). While the vibe is great, and I'm pumped for more Oddworld, I was disappointed in what I hoped to be the definitive version of Abe's first adventure...

I was surprised that I chose to play this game. But having beaten Kena: Bridge of Spirits--I needed more beautiful adventures: NOW! I kinda new I was going to be playing Munch's Oddysee and Stranger's Wrath next--but those games are a bit graphically dated--and came out when we thought 3D graphics could deliver more than they actually could. So that desire to have pretty graphics, a great adventure, and delve into the realm of Oddworld brought me back to a game I wasn't sure I'd ever play: New 'n' Tasty.

Well...actually, I've played it before. I think it was on PS3. I was pretty pumped when it released because I LOVED the original. I was really excited to see the classic gameplay realized in a 3D environment. But I wasn't sure how they'd pull it off, because the puzzles and gameplay really is about these "screens". Probably more on that later.

What I remember from my first time replaying was that it was similiar but different. Because I hadn't played the original the world, I wasn't quite sure where they were deviating and where they stayed true. I only made it to Scabania before never playing it again (for some reason...probably kids). The game was cheap over xmas, and I bought it with almost every other Oddworld game, but I never really thought I'd play it. Yet, it called to me and I answered.

NOW, playing it again I have the benefit of having played the original fairly recently, and knowing that the original is a perfect work of art. So if I'm not feeling this version, it's because something didn't translate...and it turns out, things did not translate.

The first thing that got to me were the graphics. I was surprised to find them so bland. The whole time I was thinking, "Didn't they look better on PS3??" And my laptop is PS4 Pro equivalent. I think. I made it to the Scabanian temple before I found the graphics were set to medium. I pumped them up to full power and the game was much prettier. But I'm sad that I played the first half not seeing the game at its true glory.

This is important.

The art direction of the original is amazing. Quite often, the graphics were insanely realistic. As humorous and cartoony as it could be--some of the scenes are the most realistic and impressive I've seen in a video game. Unfortunately, there was a cost to moving to 3D on Xbox. The series couldn't rely on good art, it needed good technology. And while Xbox was the most power of its generation, 3D games still often had bland textures and block models. Some games, like Resident Evil Outbreak, were able to pull off amazing 3D graphics, but those were tight, small areas with restricted camera angles. The fully explorable world of Munch and Stranger had to sacrifice detail for freedom. Being released on PS3/PS4 (I don't know), allowed the team get more bang for the buck--but also using the side scrolling format allowed them to focus more attention to the immediate instead of sacrificing resources to render are larger world.

So yes, once I amped up the graphics I was more impressed. Even with low settings, they managed to transition many of the interesting, organic environments into cool 3D spaces. While the game clearly reuses resources, they're able to make each area feel pretty unique. This is mostly noticeable when escaping the factor at night and in Scabania.

Moving on from the presentation, I start to get disappointed...

The main problem with the game is precision. In the original, there's a station screen. Enemies within that screen can help you and enemies outside of it can't. There's minimal to no interaction outside of your screen. (I was thinking a lot of Celeste while playing this, how each screen in Celeste is a challenge that must be overcome one at a time.)

Anyway, in the original screen, Abe's movements were exact. If you pushed forward, he moved forward 1 unit. If you held down sneak, he snuck forward 1 unit. If you tapped roll forward, he rolled forward 1 unit. And if you ran, he traversed by whole units. This probably to some degree related to the use of a d-pad on PS1--but also that precision was necessary for the challenges you faced. You had to trust that Abe was going to jump to where he was supposed to, move where he was supposed to, and that "luck" was minimal to non-existent. It allowed level challenges that were very tricky, but if you figured out the right pattern of moves, you could get through it.

New 'n' Tasty lost that completely.

Instead of having set screens that have to be loaded, the game follows Abe like most 2D side scrollers would. Because of this, it's hard to know what the boundaries are. You can take over sligs, right--but in the original, sometimes the sligs would run off the screen and sometimes they'd stay. This set a parameter for the challenge you faced--can you take over this slig or not? Since there's no screens--it's hard to know when a slig is going to stay in range and when they're not. Same with the drones that zap you. Am I out of range or in range? It made each challenge a bit more organize, but that also meant there were many uncontrollable factors playing into success.

This was made worse by the controls.

As I said, the original had Abe moving in predictable units. No matter where you jumped, rolled, ran, walked--Abe would always stop at specific points on the screen--allowing you to plan tricky jumps and maneuvers. NnT allows the player to move slowly, quickly, or somewhere in between. You never quite know where Abe is going to stop. And, the greatest sin, physics seem to have a play. In the original, moving meant Abe moved immediately. But in this, Abe often has to build up momentum. This makes timing really tricky. You have to account for the build up and animations. It's like in the Crash Bandicoot remakes. In the original games, pressing jump made Crash jump immediately. In the remake there was a windup where crash had to bend down before jumping. Meaning you had to press jump a split second before you intended to. making jmping horribly imprecise. Same thing here.

One of the worst things, there's only one jump button. In the original, you could push up to jump straight up, or push triangle to jump forward. That meant you could push a button and know the result. Depend on it, even. But now I have to press forward to jump forward. And if I don't push it correctly, Abe could take a step or two before jumping--leading to my death about 100 times. This was especially frustrating at the end, where I kept dying from the imprecise controls and momentum build up. This was also really annoying when possessing a slig. They weren't as responsive as the original, so tricky sections often required me to think ahead. I wasn't able to react to things, because if you were reacting you were already too far behind. You had to know, ahead of time, what you needed to do because every action needed to be activated a few split seconds before they were expected to be executed.

This honestly made the game nearly unenjoyable.

The other issue is the story. The story and cut scenes in the original are near perfect. I rewatched a little bit and saw that some of the cut scenes had been changed. There's a great slap stick moment in the original when Abe falls into a meat barrel. As he's flicking off goo, he hits his head on a low hanging pipe. As Abe falls back into the barrel, he passes two sligs that would have killed him immediately on sight. It's a silly moment that adds some fun. These things seemed to be missed or not as well timed in the remake. The original's story was just so tight and precise (like the controls) that it didn't leave wondering what was happening, or why.

That's all I really have to say. It was awesome to see this game get a facelift, but the controls and curious storytelling decisions cause it fall behind the original in the key areas that make the game great. So the the pretty 3D graphics come at a cost.

[killscreencinema]

Persona 5 Royal (PS4)

Ever since Persona 5 was originally released by Atlus in 2019, I've heard nothing but rave review after rave review. When even a video game critic like Yahtzee Croshaw, who famously (or infamously, depending on your view) hates J-RPGs, gives the game high praise, it began to be clear to me I needed to check this out.

I'm not familiar with the Persona games and am only vaguely aware of the Magami Tensei series from which the games are spun-off. However, I will change that, at least insofar as the Persona games are concerned at least, because believe the hype - Persona 5 fucking rocks!

You play as a nameless protagonist, who later adopts the codename "Joker", that is sent to a new school after getting in trouble with the law. While there, Joker discovers that he has the ability to enter the "Metaverse" (no, not Facebook's VR), which is a mirror universe that reflects the cognition of everyone in the world. Think of it as the collective unconscious made manifest. In the Metaverse, Joker can enter Palaces, which reflect the distorted desires of their owners, but if the Palace treasure is stolen, it will effectively change the personality of the Palace ruler and make them remorseful for their bad deeds. As Joker gathers more allies and friends who also have the ability to traverse the Metaverse, together they form an organization called the Phantom Thieves, whose mission is to take down evil adults who have thus far avoided punishment for their foul actions.

One of the most interesting aspects about Persona, besides it's stylistic as hell presentation (honestly, it's one of the coolest looking games I've ever played on the PS4) and it's amazing soundtrack, is how its gameplay weaves together a social simulator and J-RPG so seamlessly. You'll spend a majority of your time managing your time and balancing your social life than navigating through Palaces, but it's actually very enjoyable. It helps when the characters are so well developed and interesting. Sure, it can get a little redundant, especially considering how long the game is, but the compelling story always finds a way to keep you hooked for the long haul.

Now, as the title of this review implies, I played Royal, not the original Persona 5. As far as I can tell, the only difference seems to be additional characters and an extra Palace after beating the original final boss, leading to an extra final boss fight, but only if you manage to max out your bond with a particular character and pick the correct choices along the way. Is it worth it? Ehhh... not really. I didn't care for the extra mission, which felt superfluous and tedious. It felt like a party guest who was really fun the night before, but you wake up and they're passed out on your couch with no sign of ever waking up and leaving. I've heard that Royal also boasts some quality of life changes, like some tweaks on boss fights that were cheap or irritating in the original game, but I can't attest to that. I will say most of the boss fights aren't terribly difficult until you get to one in particular that is bullshit and believe me - you'll know which one I'm talking about when you get there (hint: it involves robots).

Persona 5 Royal is probably one of the top 10 best games I've ever played on my PlayStation 4 and certainly one of the most original and fresh J-RPGs I've played in years.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: What was your history on DLC characters in fighting games? Think they're okay or not. Take Makoto, Valkenhayn and Platinum from BlazBlue Continuum Shift as those three are notable examples as the first DLC Characters in a fighting game (more Makoto then Valkenhayn and Platinum). P.S. While Platinum can be annoying, she's an amusing and entertaining character, besides she's (Luna more than Sena) not the only thorn in Ragna's side and she's tame compared to others who interact negatively with him. (Jin, Tsubaki, Hakumen and Kokonoe while Tao and Naoto are in tame territory).

From the oldest perspectives, rather than DLC, we simply had to re-buy ENTIRE games for their updates.

In this regard, I feel sorry for the Street Fighter fanbase, whom you can probably guess had to buy the same reiterations of a game several times OVER, over many years with each new iteration.

In this regard, some games still practice this… like Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising… I was hoping it would simply be an update… but I guess I'll just have to save up some spare cash for the new game (even if I'm a bit late in participating with other players).

Though, in regards to DLC, BlazBlue was one of the earliest fighting games to practice this… and some of the practices were… not good, as memory recalls.

You had to buy Unlimited characters if you couldn't unlock them, and some couldn't even BE unlocked in some versions of the earliest BlazBlue games.

It gets worse though: in games like Mortal Kombat 3, you couldn't unlock characters UNTIL you beat Arcade Mode and had the opportunity to INPUT A KOMBAT KODE… you literally had to memorize the code and input it in at the right timing, and if you messed up, you'd have to try ALL OVER AGAIN.

And because it's an Arcade Game… if the manager shut down the machine and reset it… YOU HAD TO KEEP INPUTTING THE KODE TO UNLOCK YOUR CHARACTER… and MK isn't the only fighting game that used to do this for secret characters.

This is also why a lot of early FGC tournaments often frown on or outright BAN Secret Character use, because they are often locked away by codes, or you have to import a save file just to unlock anything.

And it wasn't just because secret characters are more powerful than the main roster… some characters, like Dan Hibiki were literally TERRIBLE characters and served no purpose other than just to be played as either a joke character, or someone who was skilled enough to use that character in demonstrations/exhibition matches.

Back on topic though, my personal history with DLC is that I make it my business to obtain the whole roster of any game I invest in.

Part of it has to do with the challenge and learning process you obtain from getting characters in a roster.

I mean, if you're going to play a game, you might as well go all-in from the start.

Otherwise there's no point investing time in something you'll only be half-hearted about.

Some games, like Dead or Alive… take this to an insane level, however… so DLC is, either important to you, or it isn't…

Some DLC is pure cosmetic fluff, like alternate colors/costumes… some stuff does improve the gameplay experience, like the Soul Calibur costumes (trust me, when making a character from scratch, the more armor parts you have, the more fun the game becomes).

But well… in my long LONG experience playing fighting games, I've obtained a great deal of wisdom.

One piece of wisdom I shall impart to you is this:

If a game has A LARGE AMOUNT OF DLC… it is often best to wait until the game's price drops, or there is some sales event of some kind (usually Summer or Christmas, or Japanese Golden Week).

If you can time it right, you can get a TON of DLC for dirt cheap… so just keeping an eye out for things like Steam Sales, or PS4 PS5 or X-Box sales events… can save you a ton of money, letting you gain the full experience of a game for a lower price.

And, if you're REALLY LUCKY, the game developers will release a BUNDLED VERSION of the game that includes all DLC they previously offered at a SINGLE SOLID PRICE. It doesn't happen as often, but when it does, that's the best time to snap a game and its content up.

Just be thankful that Fighting Game Rosters don't implement Gacha Rolls like some mobile games do! NFT characters are the worst!