30% PS+ price increase approaching, ridiculous. Mine expires 11/30, so my
plan now is to play the best of the ps+ titles in my library til then. Here
is a preliminary list, please order them in play priority for me!!

Trek to Yomi
Code Vein
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
The Last Guardian
infamous second son
Detroit Become Human
God of War

rms

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On Sat, 9 Sep 2023 10:47:17 -0600, "rms" <rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net>
wrote:

30% PS+ price increase approaching, ridiculous. Mine expires 11/30, so my >plan now is to play the best of the ps+ titles in my library til then. Here >is a preliminary list, please order them in play priority for me!!

Trek to Yomi
Code Vein
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
The Last Guardian
infamous second son
Detroit Become Human
God of War

Well, I dunno how well our tastes match, but if it were me and I
needed to rush through all these games, here's the order I'd do it in:

* God of War
Is it the best game? No. But it's a solid title with interesting
characters and story, and a lot to explore. I really like how they
evolved Kratos' character rather than simply doing the same ol' thing
like in the last two games.

* Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Despite falling squarely into "Japanese Weird" territory, the Yakuza
games are well made and have interesting characters. I could do with a
bit less strangeness but they're solid titles nonetheless.

* Infamous: Second Son
A somewhat dated but still satisfying power-fantasy. It lacks the
novelty of the original(s) but it's an okay third game. Not great, but
good enough.

* Code Vein
Definitely a niche game; Japanese Weird but imaginative. Not really
that fond of the gameplay but the setting just about makes up for it.

* Last Guardian
I really wish I could rank this one higher, but my memories of trying
to get that damned animal to do what I needed it to do haunt me still.
Good concept, aggravating execution.

* Trek to Yomi
I'd rank this one much higher except - since it was available on
HumbleChoice last month - I'm sure you picked it up for PC. Therefore,
no need to rush ;-)

* Detroit Become Human
David Cage can't write good stories or make good games. Quantic Dreams
creates games with amazing production values and a lot of intriguing
ideas that absolutely fall flat on their face when played. If you're
really interested in the game, just watch it as a let's play.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 9/9/23 15:57, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Despite falling squarely into "Japanese Weird" territory, the Yakuza
games are well made and have interesting characters. I could do with a
bit less strangeness but they're solid titles nonetheless.

I like em for the goofiness.

* Detroit Become Human
David Cage can't write good stories or make good games. Quantic Dreams creates games with amazing production values and a lot of intriguing
ideas that absolutely fall flat on their face when played. If you're
really interested in the game, just watch it as a let's play.

Some stuff can be hilariously bad, tho.

--
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 1:57:37 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Sat, 9 Sep 2023 10:47:17 -0600, "rms" <rsqui...@MOOflashMOO.net>
wrote:

* Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Despite falling squarely into "Japanese Weird" territory, the Yakuza
games are well made and have interesting characters. I could do with a
bit less strangeness but they're solid titles nonetheless.

Sounds interesting.

* Code Vein
Definitely a niche game; Japanese Weird but imaginative. Not really
that fond of the gameplay but the setting just about makes up for it.

Anime sparkly vampires with fan service and giant weapons in a
future setting with dark souls like gameplay. I couldn't get into it, I tried.


I keep thinking of getting the PS+ so I can stream playing Blooodborne
on my PC, which many people seem to think is the best Dark Souls
game (yes, yes, technically not DS, but by fromsoft and really close
to DS.) As well as Demon Souls.

Moving off topic a bit on that, Armored Core 6 is out by Fromsoft.
I almost bought it, but I thought I'd let that go for a bit and maybe
there'll be a sale by the time I get around to it, since I'm in a deep love-hate relationship with BG3 at the moment.

- Justisaur

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Big thanks for your considered recommendations Spalls!

* God of War
Is it the best game? No.

I was worried this might be too mass-market or generic or having too many fetch quests etc, but everyone I've asked puts it at the top of any list, so I'll start with this.

* Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Actually the one I want to play is Lost Judgement https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058190/Lost_Judgment/
since it has a mystery detective element, but yeah not going to pay full
price (haven't played any yakuza game)

* Last Guardian

I've read that the physical version has a 60fps patch available, that is *not* available for the digital version, but in any case being a famous
title I'll give it a try at least

* Trek to Yomi

Being short and having a unique artstyle appeals to me, might bump this
up higher

rms

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

* Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Despite falling squarely into "Japanese Weird" territory, the Yakuza
games are well made and have interesting characters. I could do with a
bit less strangeness but they're solid titles nonetheless.

Sounds interesting.

Actually the one I want to play is Lost Judgement https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058190/Lost_Judgment/
since it has a mystery detective element, but yeah not going to pay full
price

* Code Vein
Definitely a niche game; Japanese Weird but imaginative. Not really
that fond of the gameplay but the setting just about makes up for it.

Anime sparkly vampires with fan service and giant weapons in a
future setting with dark souls like gameplay. I couldn't get into it, I >tried.

a full size game, hence putting it on the list, but at the bottom I guess
:)

I keep thinking of getting the PS+ so I can stream playing Blooodborne

I bought physical Bloodborne & Demon Souls some time ago, just because
they are highly rated, haven't played them as yet!

rms

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Sunday, 10 September 2023 at 18:14:28 UTC+2, rms wrote:

Big thanks for your considered recommendations Spalls!

* God of War
Is it the best game? No.

I was worried this might be too mass-market or generic or having too many fetch quests etc, but everyone I've asked puts it at the top of any list, so I'll start with this.

* Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Actually the one I want to play is Lost Judgement https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058190/Lost_Judgment/
since it has a mystery detective element, but yeah not going to pay full price (haven't played any yakuza game)

* Last Guardian

I've read that the physical version has a 60fps patch available, that is *not* available for the digital version, but in any case being a famous
title I'll give it a try at least

* Trek to Yomi

Being short and having a unique artstyle appeals to me, might bump this
up higher

rms

I haven't played all of the games but I'd recommend:

God of War:
It gives you a nice feeling for modern action adventures. I wouldn't say that it is
"genre defining" but it definitely left its mark.

I was worried this might be too mass-market or generic ...

"Mass-market generic" is a fitting description. It isn't necessarily bad but it embodies all the generic tropes in modern game design (skill trees, item rarity cinematic and climbing segments).

You shouldn't take it as gospel but I'd recommend watching Mathew Matosis
case study on the game after you've finished it. IMO it is an interesting analysis:
https://youtu.be/IERHMMXeshc (it contains spoilers, so don't click if you care).


Yakuza: Like a Dragon:
It has a good reputation and I started playing it for a bit. Never really got the hang
of it but I want to give it another spin. The franchise has a lot to offer if you
like it.

I skipped Code Vein when it was released and I think you do not need to play it if you have played a Dark Souls/Souls-like game. However, if you are into anime it might be worth a look.

Detroit Become Human is a Quantic Dream game with all the positives and negatives that come from that. Some parts of it are interesting to me, especially because I like SciFi and cyberpunk. However you shouldn't expect too much depth. As Spalls suggested, you could just watch a walkthrough.

If you are interested in the history of games as a medium, I think you should give The Last Guardian a shot. It had such a long and public development process which I find super interesting. Having said that, I opted to watch a walkthrough which gave me everything I needed.

Lou

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Sun, 10 Sep 2023 10:14:24 -0600, "rms"
<rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:

Big thanks for your considered recommendations Spalls!

* God of War
Is it the best game? No.

I was worried this might be too mass-market or generic or having too many
fetch quests etc, but everyone I've asked puts it at the top of any list, so >I'll start with this.

In many ways, it is. It really doesn't do anything new, and - yes -
the move to an open world does mean the game can drag on a bit
(although it's nowhere as bad as the sequel). Fortunately, most of the side-quests can be ignored if you really want.

The game's biggest fault - in my eyes at least - is that the combat
is... well, I always found it a bit tedious. And there's so much of
it. It's still a lot better than the sequel (my god, did that game
drag on!) but it could have, in my opinion, used fewer enemies (or
enemies with fewer hitpoints). But then, I've never been a big fan of
the combo-heavy combat of the "God of War" games.

* Trek to Yomi

Being short and having a unique artstyle appeals to me, might bump this
up higher

You asked me to rank the order I'd play the games. Since I own Yomi on
PC, it got ranked lower. But it would probably be second place
otherwise.

Truth, though, your selection of games wouldn't be first picks for me
anyway. Although that limitation made it a bit more interesting of a
challenge to rank them. ;-)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 9:14:28 AM UTC-7, rms wrote:

Big thanks for your considered recommendations Spalls!

* God of War
Is it the best game? No.

I was worried this might be too mass-market or generic or having too many fetch quests etc, but everyone I've asked puts it at the top of any list, so I'll start with this.

I really need to try this too. The original was quite good on the PS2. I'd probably have put that old one at #3 after GTA3VC, and GTA3 for me.

- Justisaur

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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