What you playing PS4 / PS5 Style

The only "souls" element is the player invasions as Muss says. I can definitely see the Hitman comparisons though!

Mostly however it really does just look like Dishonored to me. Which is no bad thing at all

The thing I'm curious about is how much replay value it might have, will folk play it and experience the multiplayer along the way and not return after finishing it? If so then you might have to play Deathloop within the launch period (let's say 2 weeks to a month) to see it at it's best.

Mas they're a lot of games that I'm not super into either, other than hades. But imagine having a lot of the good things in those games. The tension of a souls invasion and that risk of losing some progress, the unpicking an areas secrets in a hitman, the addictiveness of a hades, but also the convenience of a Bethesda game. And by the latter I mean that the game will always point you in the right direction for the main plot as a skyrim would, but there's still some mystery for those that want to do side things. And like I said before you aren't massively punished for dying.

It's a little more than just the invasions being souls like, if you die before banking loot then you lose it, but the game plays quick enough for that to not be a bother.

I think the player count will fall off a bit but the ai does a decent job at hunting you so even when offline you have that risk. The peer to peer connections can be very poor when invading which is a shame and there can be a lot of downtime when invading due to map size. You don't have the same sense of risk as the invaded so I can see people being less likely to invade if the connections stay a bit dodgy.

But invading friends would always be fun.

Yeah maybe you're right but I'm happy to wait to it's on Game Pass as like Jas says about the multiplayer it be new on Xbox then, hopefully be people playing.

While if I bought in sale on PS5 in let's say April, would people be around still.

Yeah whenever it hits gamepass it will be just as popular as it is now

Ahh yeah, forgot your PS5 broke down Mas. I definitely think people would still be playing it by then but if having it while it is new is important then Gamepass will be the better option. The game gradually introduces you to stuff, and has a pretty fair difficulty curve.

I've had my new PS5 for a few weeks now, have posted some games finished etc and just started Kena which maybe 2hrs in seems very good.

I've started playing the PS5 version of Ghost of Tsushima. From what I have played so far, colour me very impressed! I'm usually not one for open world games, especially those with outrageously large maps *cough Red Dead 2 * as I often think they're just too much of a time sink. I feel like this game could go that way ultimately but the combat system is really fun. In motion I absolutely feel like a Samurai, and the world around me is absolutely beautiful.

It's the little touches as well though, with stuff like the wind assisting your navigation, that works thematically and mechanically. There are problems here and there, the Mongols seem to be quite happy to attack you one at a time which is a bit silly, but it's all forgivable at the moment because the combat is still challenging enough for me at the moment.

Yeah the combat kept me interested with Ghost of Tsushima, enough to get the platinum. Looking back, it was a bit like Assassin's Creed as far as checking off lists and lots of "go here, kill this person, then go here". But as you say, I actually looked forward to each fight and the horse riding is glorious when the open-world is so beautiful. The story packs a punch too - great game.

Ghosts of Tsushima will be the next new PS4 game I buy, although I want to finish off Nioh and the Spidey DLCs first.

I think it's a Ubisoft open world game done right though. The quests and collectables are all very mechanical for sure, pretty window-dressing aside, but the core loop is good.

It's also a game that's generally quite happy for you to approach problems stealthily or as a swordsman as there are relatively few missions which require you to sneaky throughout. It also does not do that ridiculous bit of gating you have in the Assassin's Creed games where enemies all have level numbers above their heads and if your level is lower you can't kill them, even though the enemy model is the same one you've fought a million times before.

Everything about the progression so far, having just finished Act 1 now, feels much more natural here. And I think that's really important. There's just something I can't stand about the abstractions the Creed games make, but I'm not finding that at all here.

It won't win any storytelling prizes, but I do think the Ghost of Tsushima does a pretty decent job with its characters and the plot too.

I'm playing Sleeping Dogs and it's a belter. I was a bit iffy about the combat at first, but your bloke rocks up to a mission and he has to clear a room of thirty machete-wielding goons, and when you get in that zen-like trance where you time every counter-attack perfectly - it's a fantastic feeling! Considering it's a 360 era title, it looks excellent for an open-world game and I like that it has a sense of humour. The handling of the vehicles, particularly the motorbikes, have seen me just riding around the city like my first time in Vice City. Taking a motorbike on a boat, or up a staircase is just as fun as the missions.

They really nailed the movement and feel of the world and jumping between this and Shenmue 2 makes me wonder why Hong Kong isn't used more in games.

I've had my PS5 since May, and so far I've only played Astro's Free Download Adventure.

I should really try a Yakuza or a Sleeping Dogs at some point. I just finished platting Ghost of Tsushima, which while very different, is another open world type game and I tend to play a limited number of those per year.

I'm looking forward to playing some Knockout City soon as the word on Twitter is a number of us are looking to play it. It's free with PSN this month in case anyone is interested.

I started trying Dead by Daylight, a game I've heard a lot about and have always wanted to try. I must have got it as part of a PS plus from aeons ago. That game is a lot of fun, it has a really good sense of tension as you would expect. Thing is though, it's really bad for new players.

It has a system where you gain more XP the more you play, which you can use to buy new perks and equipment. Which means a new player not only doesn't know the maps or the powers of the various killers, but also has worse tools with which to deal with all those things. And that's just completely inexcusable. This game is about 5 years old. At the very least, there absolutely should be some well levelled characters and equipment that new players are just given.

I would argue that Yakuza is much more structured and less "open worldy" than Sleeping Dogs and certainly Ghost. You should get on that now.

Muss wrote:

I started trying Dead by Daylight, a game I've heard a lot about and have always wanted to try. I must have got it as part of a PS plus from aeons ago. That game is a lot of fun, it has a really good sense of tension as you would expect. Thing is though, it's really bad for new players.

It has a system where you gain more XP the more you play, which you can use to buy new perks and equipment. Which means a new player not only doesn't know the maps or the powers of the various killers, but also has worse tools with which to deal with all those things. And that's just completely inexcusable. This game is about 5 years old. At the very least, there absolutely should be some well levelled characters and equipment that new players are just given.

You were brave to go at it alone. I play it with someone who knows the game inside out, and I think you need that as a new player. Happily, you can succeed at it with minimal knowledge of perks, add ons, or map layout. Are you enjoying it?

Yeah, it's still a good time in spite of the cruel learning curve. I struggle a lot with indoor maps because I find it difficult to know where to go. In the outdoors, the generators are generally signposted well enough and there's often enough foliage to hide yourself in. Those have been my favourite moments, hiding in the brush whilst the killer sprints past you makes you feel like a genius. It's definitely fun playing a stealth game against an actual human, it has that same dopamine hit that executing something devious as the Imposter on Among Us does. Obviously mind-games and some sneaking has its place in some online games, but I don't think there are many that can replicate what this game does at times.

I've been playing survivor mostly, and have Meg up to level 15 now. I also decided to buy the Stranger Things characters before they disappear from the store, so I might switch over to Nancy since she has a lot of sneaky perks. I don't think I have any of the perks which give you more map info as Meg yet which makes things harder for someone without much game sense yet. But not knowing the maps and not knowing what each killer does makes the game so brutal on top of the lack of any amazing perks. I mean, It's not like I never escape, but it feels really tough. Maybe that's a good thing, it certainly makes it more tense when you know you're hopeless at running away

On the other side of the fence, I've only used Hillbilly since they seemed simple enough. I got my first survivor wipe yesterday, but I'm generally a pretty hopeless killer and will probably only be playing killer for the odd daily quest.

Crumpy Andy wrote:

I would argue that Yakuza is much more structured and less "open worldy" than Sleeping Dogs and certainly Ghost. You should get on that now.

Breaking news: Andy recommends Yakuza!

I think I have one of the Yakuza's as another PS+ game I never got around to, either Zero or an unnumbered game (or both). Where does that fit into your correct order of play list?

Muss all the Yakuza games are on Game Pass

Noice

And 0 is the correct first game

That Knock Out City is well good innit?

I think I only have a couple of criticisms. The Menus suck and some of the special balls seem a bit unfair, I'm looking at Multi-ball, bomb, and the cola balls. But even then, I don't mind any of them.

I feel like there are ways around multi-ball, it's just very strong. Bomb balls do have a risk/reward going on with them, even though having one com your way at short notice is a death sentence.

I'm also not super into the amount of dodging that happens in online games. It's obviously a valid tactic, but I enjoy getting into those catch-off duels much more.

Otherwise, the game runs well, has a surprising amount of variety baked into it, and comes with such a well realised retro-future aesthetic. The perfect PS+ game, up there with Rocket League and Fall Guys.

Aye cracking wee game and I pretty much agree with everything you said there, another few things I don't like are seeing players basically hide and then pick up the scraps when they see a chance to win plus I noticed when playing last night that some of the spawns in free for all modes can be really unfair on certain maps .

I am guilty of hiding at times during the battle royale mode, but I only do that against randoms. Generally I think players who rely on hiding are unlikely to win anyway because the maps are designed in such a way that it's difficult to hide for too long. Having said that, being sneaky can definitely give you an edge, especially when you sneak up on a camper

I guess I'm not a massive fan of the special you get when you charge throw an ally, but I do like the risk/reward when you chuck them normally.

I can definitely see it being in my rotation for a while, it's giving me those Rocket League vibes already in that every match feels that little bit different and things can be turned around quickly if you're playing the right/wrong way. I hope it can keep a regular player base now that so many people own it but I do worry, me and Jas managed to randomly match up in a battle royale the other day suggesting it's already a little low.

The recent disaster that is eFootball 2022 has somehow led to me buying eFootball PES 2021 Season Update and do you know what? It's very enjoyable, perhaps enough time has passed so that I can enjoy it again but playing has made it apparent the gameplay was never the reason this does so poorly compared to FIFA.

I also found that I was matched up against the same randoms in the Battle Royale mode, but I've had nothing but pretty instant games in the ranked mode and the other modes so it's been alright.

Easily my favourite Battle Royale mode that I've played in any game to be honest. It condenses some of the tension you no doubt feel from one of those massive BR games, but ratchets up the intensity and interactivity to a much more enjoyable degree.