Of all the games on this list, Tales of Berseria was my first new game purchase of 2017 and it's the one I've probably played the least. Not that it's not a great game but with all those other heavy hitters, it got lost in the shuffle. In the 10 hours I've spent with Berseria, I've grown to really enjoy it, mainly because it's different than other Tales titles. This is no tale (haha) of coming together to save the world. This is a tale of revenge. Velvet has a clear goal and will do what it takes to reach that goal, no matter who she has to manipulate or cross in her way. The gameplay is fun and exciting too and it's a real testament to the creators to continue to keep each title fresh in the combat department. This one uses a risk and reward system of the soul gauge. You start off with three and the more and more you attack, the less of the gauge you have. If you stun an enemy, you gain a soul but if that happens to you, you lose a soul. To do flashy attacks, you have to give up a soul as well. It's all very fun in the end and makes every battle feel fresh and rewarding, especially the boss battles. TOB is another achievement for the company and even better for the PS4 as it's an exclusive title. Exclusive as in not on Xbox as it's on Steam.
Nioh was the first game people felt could be a potential Game of the Year. Mixing the sengoku era with the Dark Souls formula, it was a major hit with fans and critics alike. And it was developed by Team Ninja, you know, the masterminds behind one of the best action adventure games from the sixth generation Ninja Gaiden? Where do I sign up? While not originally on my radar (because of Tales, Horizon and Zelda) once the reviews poured it, I couldn't resist. What I found was a game with the obvious Dark Souls mechanics but spun around with the Team Ninja feel. It plays like a hybrid between Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden, like Dark Gaiden or Ninja Souls. Ninja Souls sounds amazing. Anyway, it has everything that makes Souls games memorable. The huge and sprawling dungeons. The dark world. The same risk and reward system, where dying makes a difference, The punishing but somehow manageable difficulty. Every little aspect that makes Souls games so amazingly well, Nioh does in its own way and that makes it stand out on its own. It's not fair to classify this a Souls clone. It's much faster, has different skill set-ups and in my opinion, plays better simply because of its speed. If you wanted a new Ninja Gaiden game, this is definitely one to play to scare that itch.
Yazkua 0 is 7th game released in the amazing open world beat em up series. That's not a typo. Since the Playstation 2, 6 games have been released on Sony platforms, starting with the original Yakuza in 2006. As its title suggests, it's a prequel to the entire series and thus, can be enjoyed without playing the other games in the series. Personally, I've never finished a Yakuza game but I've played 1-3 and skipped out on 4, 5 and Dead Souls. 0 takes place in December 1988 as the main character, Kazuma Kiryu, is just starting his rise in the mafia. After one of his targets that he was collecting money from dies, Kazuma must try to prove his innocence so that his foster father does not face retribution for introducing Kazuma to the mafia. Another main character in the entire Yakuza series, Goro Majima is running a night club after being exiled from the Yakuza. He's offered a chance at redemption when he's given a target to kill; a blind woman, Instead of going through with it, he protects her and looks for answers. I'm a huge fan of Shenmue and Sega has obviously put a lot of what I love about that game in here. This is the definition of a sandbox game, you can do so many things. Want to bowl? There's a bowling alley. Want to play some games? There's an arcade with actual Sega games in it. You can date, go to clubs, drink, or do what the game is really all about, FIGHT. Both Kiryu and Majima have three different fighting styles they can change to on the fly and it makes for intense battle situations. If you have a lot of enemies around, Rush style is the way to go. If it's one on one, go Brawler. Want all out chaos? Choose Beast and Kiryu will attack and pick up objects to swing at enemies at the same time. It's as awesome as it sounds. I find myself getting completely enticed by the game. I've had long play sessions with it, about 5 hours each of the three sittings I got with it. It grips you up with its engrossing story, fun battles and many side quests. Seriously, there are SO MANY extra things to do. While walking to the next main mission, I was stopped to teach a woman how to be a better dominatrix, asked to fake be a producer for a show and to help a child get back a video game he was looking forward to. I'm not joking. This game is epic, it's amazing and it's one I plan on finishing. With Sega announcing the Yakuza 1 remake, titled Yakuza Kiwami, coming to PS4 this year AND the critically acclaimed Yakuza 6 coming next year, this is a great time to get into the series. Yes, there's still no way to get into the whole series without owning both a PS2 and PS3 but this is a good start.
Horizon: Zero Dawn will go down as one of the best PS4 games of all time when this console is all done. Some of the better games this generation tend to mix gameplay aspects of other great titles. For example, Tomb Raider mixes the exploration of a Metroidvania game, the shooting and platforming of the Uncharted games and the brutality and gore of Resident Evil 4 for one of the finest games of the last two generations. Horizon is a mash up like that. It takes the exploration of the latest Far Cry games, the crafting and bow play of the newer Tomb Raider games and the parkour platforming made famous from Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed to make for one unique and unforgettable experience. What Horizon does really well is make you question when the game takes place. Now, it's obviously the future as the game tells you but it has a real primitive feel to it. Aloy, the main character voiced by Ashly Burch of Hey Ash Whatcha Playing fame, uses bows and spears as her main weapons. She also gets slingshots and rope trap devices and she's taking down mechanical beasts with them. It's crazy. Horizon has A LOT of things to do as well. It's almost too much. Apart from the main story to find out who attacked you during a ceremony, (I'm sure there's more to it, just haven't delved too much just yet) there's other side quests from the various NPCs in the game, challenges to test your ability at taking down the various robots you encounter and, like many of this open world games, a point to climb to scope out the area and fill in parts of the map ala Far Cry, Shadow of Mordor, etc. These points are actually robots called Longnecks and they help reveal more activities for you to do. I only have about 5 hours in this world right now but everything so far has been great. It looks fantastic, handles very well and is actually pretty challenging. This is a great first attempt at a new genre by developers Guerrilla Games, who have been doing nothing but first person shooters for years. I hope this trend continues for the company and I'm looking forward to getting even deeper in the game in the coming weeks.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is massive. It's incredible. It...at many times, doesn't feel like a Zelda game but that's not a negative about the game. It takes more cues from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Two Worlds than say, Ocarina of Time. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, I knew it was different. You play as Link and you've just awakened from a 100 year sleep. You walk out the room, put your clothes on and get to the first block in the road. There's only a small little opening at the top and you have no items or no hookshot to get you forward. Here's two of the biggest changes to Zelda; Link can now climb and jump. Sprinting was introduced in Skyward Sword and that was a big help in itself. It returns here just as helpful. Yes, I realize jumping was in Link's Awakening but you needed an item for it. This is not automated jumping, you have to press a button to activate it. That is revolutionary for this game. Another major change is the formula of how you can complete the game. You know your objective very early; to defeat Calamity Ganon and you know his location. You can meet the final boss very early in your adventure but he'll be darn near impossible to slay. The change is there is no order you have to complete the game, as in EVERY other home console Zelda release. This is again taken from ALBW. No longer must you collect three of something, get the Master Sword, collect 5-8 of something else and then defeat Ganon. It's more free and open world. It feels a lot more like Skyrim, Far Cry and Assassin's Creed than it does Zelda. Link can cook, equip different armor to increase his stats and use weapons from enemies. Again, this is not the Zelda we grew up with as kids. Link's inventory has limited spaces as well, so you also have to manage your inventory, only take what you can use at the time. One of the best parts of the game are the various shrines located all throughout it's massive world. I believe there are 100+. The shrines contain puzzles that either involve using the Gamepad or Joycons to navigate a ball to a slot, using the various runes, like bombs, ice, stasis and magnetic to move further in or even combat a guardian. No two shrines are the same and it makes running around the giant map even more of a fun adventure than ever. When you complete shrines, you get an orb which you then can give to a goddess statue and you'll be blessed with either an additional heart container or a little more stamina, making the shrines not only a great distraction from the main story but also a must for additional exploring. It's going to be awful hard climbing all the vast mountains in the game with no stamina and even harder to defeat the giant monsters strolling the area with just three hearts. Many enemies I encountered from wandering around were MUCH stronger than I expected and took me out with one hit.
While I've played Zelda well over 10 hours now, I feel no closer to the ending or have done much of the main story. I just reached the Zora's Domain on 3/9/17 and that is the first of the four tribes I chose the visit. 10 hours in other Zelda games and I already have the Master Sword. The Master Sword in BOTW, nowhere CLOSE to being in sight. There's also little things in the game that I like, like the day-night cycle and the weather. Traveling at night is much more dangerous than in the day as skeletons will pop out of the ground to attack you. Also, while raining, it becomes near impossible to climb as the terrain will become slippery from the rain. Another nice touch is how smart the game is. For example, I was traveling during a thunder storm and every time lightning struck, it hit me. Why? Is there a vengeful god out to get me? Nope, turns out I just had on all metal based equipment so it was easier to be targeted by it. Amazing. Breath of the Wild continues to shock (on a roll today), impress and amaze me with his new mechanics, locations and overall scale. Yes, this is an entirely different Zelda game but that is the best thing that could happen for this 30 year franchise. While all the games have been great, let's be honest; it was getting pretty stale. This is the Zelda title that we will tell our kids about; the quintessential Zelda experience. It will go down as one of the greatest Zeldas of all time and also, one of the greatest video games of all time.
Nier: Automata is a sequel, kind of, of Nier, released back in 2010. That's the only similarities it shares. This is developed by PlatinumGames, best known for Bayonetta, Madworld and the not so often talked about Vanquish. PG had to cancel Scalebound for Xbox One, one of the MAIN reasons I bought a X1 in the first place but Nier has made up for it, simply because it embodies everything about the company and the games that they make. This game is CRAZY. While it's best described as an action RPG, there's also moments of 2D platforming, top down shooter and a few bullet hell moments. Seriously, within the first 15 minutes of the game, instead of doing hacking and slashing, you're playing a top down 2D shooter like Gradius. Then, it turn to a twin stick bullet hell shooter and then finally, you get to the hack-n-slash gameplay from the demo. The great thing is, the game crafts all these moments together so wonderfully that each play session is unique and fun. You'll be slashing away at robots and then the next second it will change the camera view to the top down perspective and you'll start shooting. It's fantastic. Nier Automata is also open world as well so along with the main quest, there are plenty of side things to do as well so you can level up and upgrade your weapons, set skills and make your pod, your little shooter companion, stronger. I only have 4 hours in Nier but they have been four amazing and fun hours, filled with mindlessly destroying robots, listening to some amazing music and a naked android? Hmmm...regardless, this is a fantastic title.
The Playstation 4 is absolutely destroying Xbox One in terms of exclusives. 5 of the games talked about are only available for consoles gamers on PS4. AND you still have one of the most anticipated JRPGs in Persona 5 coming next month exclusively for Sony consoles. I've played more of my PS4 in the past month then I've played my Xbox in the past three months. I didn't finish FFXV, simply because I got bored of it. It was a great game but one that only grabbed me for the small time it did because I was so looking forward to it, not necessarily because it was a great experience. Anyway, with the cancellation of Scalebound, Crackdown 3 and Cuphead are the two remaining exclusives for the system I'm excited for it and that's a shame.
Anyway, gaming is firing on all cylinders right now. I'm putting the most time into Zelda, Horizon and Nier right now. Nioh and Yakuza 0 are on the back burner for now. Zelda and Horizon are MASSIVE games so I need the time to delve into those before Persona 5 arrives. Nier is replayable and I bought it digitally so I'll always have it.
What a time to be a gamer!
Horizon: Zero Dawn will go down as one of the best PS4 games of all time when this console is all done. Some of the better games this generation tend to mix gameplay aspects of other great titles. For example, Tomb Raider mixes the exploration of a Metroidvania game, the shooting and platforming of the Uncharted games and the brutality and gore of Resident Evil 4 for one of the finest games of the last two generations. Horizon is a mash up like that. It takes the exploration of the latest Far Cry games, the crafting and bow play of the newer Tomb Raider games and the parkour platforming made famous from Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed to make for one unique and unforgettable experience. What Horizon does really well is make you question when the game takes place. Now, it's obviously the future as the game tells you but it has a real primitive feel to it. Aloy, the main character voiced by Ashly Burch of Hey Ash Whatcha Playing fame, uses bows and spears as her main weapons. She also gets slingshots and rope trap devices and she's taking down mechanical beasts with them. It's crazy. Horizon has A LOT of things to do as well. It's almost too much. Apart from the main story to find out who attacked you during a ceremony, (I'm sure there's more to it, just haven't delved too much just yet) there's other side quests from the various NPCs in the game, challenges to test your ability at taking down the various robots you encounter and, like many of this open world games, a point to climb to scope out the area and fill in parts of the map ala Far Cry, Shadow of Mordor, etc. These points are actually robots called Longnecks and they help reveal more activities for you to do. I only have about 5 hours in this world right now but everything so far has been great. It looks fantastic, handles very well and is actually pretty challenging. This is a great first attempt at a new genre by developers Guerrilla Games, who have been doing nothing but first person shooters for years. I hope this trend continues for the company and I'm looking forward to getting even deeper in the game in the coming weeks.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is massive. It's incredible. It...at many times, doesn't feel like a Zelda game but that's not a negative about the game. It takes more cues from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Two Worlds than say, Ocarina of Time. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, I knew it was different. You play as Link and you've just awakened from a 100 year sleep. You walk out the room, put your clothes on and get to the first block in the road. There's only a small little opening at the top and you have no items or no hookshot to get you forward. Here's two of the biggest changes to Zelda; Link can now climb and jump. Sprinting was introduced in Skyward Sword and that was a big help in itself. It returns here just as helpful. Yes, I realize jumping was in Link's Awakening but you needed an item for it. This is not automated jumping, you have to press a button to activate it. That is revolutionary for this game. Another major change is the formula of how you can complete the game. You know your objective very early; to defeat Calamity Ganon and you know his location. You can meet the final boss very early in your adventure but he'll be darn near impossible to slay. The change is there is no order you have to complete the game, as in EVERY other home console Zelda release. This is again taken from ALBW. No longer must you collect three of something, get the Master Sword, collect 5-8 of something else and then defeat Ganon. It's more free and open world. It feels a lot more like Skyrim, Far Cry and Assassin's Creed than it does Zelda. Link can cook, equip different armor to increase his stats and use weapons from enemies. Again, this is not the Zelda we grew up with as kids. Link's inventory has limited spaces as well, so you also have to manage your inventory, only take what you can use at the time. One of the best parts of the game are the various shrines located all throughout it's massive world. I believe there are 100+. The shrines contain puzzles that either involve using the Gamepad or Joycons to navigate a ball to a slot, using the various runes, like bombs, ice, stasis and magnetic to move further in or even combat a guardian. No two shrines are the same and it makes running around the giant map even more of a fun adventure than ever. When you complete shrines, you get an orb which you then can give to a goddess statue and you'll be blessed with either an additional heart container or a little more stamina, making the shrines not only a great distraction from the main story but also a must for additional exploring. It's going to be awful hard climbing all the vast mountains in the game with no stamina and even harder to defeat the giant monsters strolling the area with just three hearts. Many enemies I encountered from wandering around were MUCH stronger than I expected and took me out with one hit.
While I've played Zelda well over 10 hours now, I feel no closer to the ending or have done much of the main story. I just reached the Zora's Domain on 3/9/17 and that is the first of the four tribes I chose the visit. 10 hours in other Zelda games and I already have the Master Sword. The Master Sword in BOTW, nowhere CLOSE to being in sight. There's also little things in the game that I like, like the day-night cycle and the weather. Traveling at night is much more dangerous than in the day as skeletons will pop out of the ground to attack you. Also, while raining, it becomes near impossible to climb as the terrain will become slippery from the rain. Another nice touch is how smart the game is. For example, I was traveling during a thunder storm and every time lightning struck, it hit me. Why? Is there a vengeful god out to get me? Nope, turns out I just had on all metal based equipment so it was easier to be targeted by it. Amazing. Breath of the Wild continues to shock (on a roll today), impress and amaze me with his new mechanics, locations and overall scale. Yes, this is an entirely different Zelda game but that is the best thing that could happen for this 30 year franchise. While all the games have been great, let's be honest; it was getting pretty stale. This is the Zelda title that we will tell our kids about; the quintessential Zelda experience. It will go down as one of the greatest Zeldas of all time and also, one of the greatest video games of all time.
Nier: Automata is a sequel, kind of, of Nier, released back in 2010. That's the only similarities it shares. This is developed by PlatinumGames, best known for Bayonetta, Madworld and the not so often talked about Vanquish. PG had to cancel Scalebound for Xbox One, one of the MAIN reasons I bought a X1 in the first place but Nier has made up for it, simply because it embodies everything about the company and the games that they make. This game is CRAZY. While it's best described as an action RPG, there's also moments of 2D platforming, top down shooter and a few bullet hell moments. Seriously, within the first 15 minutes of the game, instead of doing hacking and slashing, you're playing a top down 2D shooter like Gradius. Then, it turn to a twin stick bullet hell shooter and then finally, you get to the hack-n-slash gameplay from the demo. The great thing is, the game crafts all these moments together so wonderfully that each play session is unique and fun. You'll be slashing away at robots and then the next second it will change the camera view to the top down perspective and you'll start shooting. It's fantastic. Nier Automata is also open world as well so along with the main quest, there are plenty of side things to do as well so you can level up and upgrade your weapons, set skills and make your pod, your little shooter companion, stronger. I only have 4 hours in Nier but they have been four amazing and fun hours, filled with mindlessly destroying robots, listening to some amazing music and a naked android? Hmmm...regardless, this is a fantastic title.
The Playstation 4 is absolutely destroying Xbox One in terms of exclusives. 5 of the games talked about are only available for consoles gamers on PS4. AND you still have one of the most anticipated JRPGs in Persona 5 coming next month exclusively for Sony consoles. I've played more of my PS4 in the past month then I've played my Xbox in the past three months. I didn't finish FFXV, simply because I got bored of it. It was a great game but one that only grabbed me for the small time it did because I was so looking forward to it, not necessarily because it was a great experience. Anyway, with the cancellation of Scalebound, Crackdown 3 and Cuphead are the two remaining exclusives for the system I'm excited for it and that's a shame.
Anyway, gaming is firing on all cylinders right now. I'm putting the most time into Zelda, Horizon and Nier right now. Nioh and Yakuza 0 are on the back burner for now. Zelda and Horizon are MASSIVE games so I need the time to delve into those before Persona 5 arrives. Nier is replayable and I bought it digitally so I'll always have it.
What a time to be a gamer!
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