Topic: The PlayStation Fan Thread

The Resident Evil VII demo is BRILLIANT!

Everybody, go and play it!

Wish that Xbox and PC players could join in too.

@TheLastLugia You noticed how those three games you mentioned (Persona 5, Ni No Kuni 2 and Gravity Rush 2) are all Japanese developed ones?

They would be at Tokyo Games Show rather than the American centric E3 conference. The Last Guardian was the exception, as we didn't see anything for Everybody's Golf, Gran Turismo Sport, The Tomorrow Children or Wattam.

I expect we shall see more of the likes of Detroit, Dreams, Matterfall (from the creators of Resogun and Alienation) and WILD at Gamescom in August, given that it is a European focused event.

I like how Sony spreads their games out over different events in different countries TBH.

As a so far disappointed PS4 owner, I'm excited about what Sony announced at E3...

...Just a shame most of it (as with the rest of E3 so far) is slated for 2017 and beyond. FF15 and Last Guardian look good for the end of the year, but for a 'Nintendoesque' gamer like myself, it just seemed a little too much promise and no guarantees.

I like sony so far. If I wasn't strapped for the proper amount of cash, I would already be on the ps4 and vr bandwagon.

I like the looks of gravity rush too. And horizon. And that resident evil vr has some true potential. I'm curious to see what'll happen with their releases though.

Sony's doing good stuff so far.

I still need to watch the Spider-Man trailer, but thanks for the sneak peak, @Peek-a-boo

Also, try something with more sugar next time. That's what kept me up...Oreos, man. They're like sugar cubes for people.

And yes, I loved the look of Resident Evil 7. Gonna download that demo in a minute, but I don't want to ruin my sleep any more than did last night. At least the horror part looks appealing for once - I'm not meaning that to be a slight at RE4-6, either. Body horror and jump-scares aren't exactly my thing. If I'm gonna subject myself to something horrifying, it's gotta be mental, man.

Speaking of which, did the combat in Silent Hill ever get even remotely less clunky since the first game? Even the most scathing reviews did not sell enough just how much it ruins the experience, since every single fight becomes extremely frustrating, even if it's just one enemy in an open space. If it weren't for that, it'd be up there with Eternal Darkness as one of my favorite horrifying games.

I'm also curious if/how combat is in RE7, but I think I've already established some really low standards here. Then again, I never did play that PT demo it seems to draw so much "inspiration" from...

@CanisWolfred P.T. didn't have any combat. It was pretty much a walking simulator. A horrifying, truly atmospheric walking simulator, which, due to the familiar domestic setting, made me feel slightly unsafe in my own home. It was brilliant.

As for Silent Hill... I never had any problem with the combat. It's the same kind of tank controls you had in games like Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. I think the controls changed after SH4, but I can't confirm that, as I refused to play Homecoming, and for some reason never got around to playing Downpour.

I know people who have always hated tank controls, but I liked the way they made combat somewhat awkward, as it added to the tension of enemy encounters. You get disempowerment that makes you feel slightly unsafe, but it's not just a run and hide sort of disempowerment like you get with Amnesia or Clock Tower.

@Octane It really frustrates me. If GR2 bombs, Sony is going to use it as an excuse to abandon the I.P., even if the real reason is down to poor marketing. I get that they want the Call of Duties and Uncharteds out in the spotlight, but one thing these sorts of conferences really help with is giving smaller, more niche titles a platform to stand on so they can be seen. I would have much rather seen Gravity Rush 2 than Lego Star Wars, for instance (and, based on the complete absence of enthusiasm in the audience, I'd say the same is true for attendees as well).

I enjoyed Sony's conference, the live orchestra was a nice touch. After last year's "Dream E3" of games far out, I appreciated the more coming soon(er) vibe of E3 2016. I'm glad RE 7 isn't a PS exclusive, found a few rumblings online that it might so that was reassuring. Wish I could try out the demo om my Xbone though.

@Ralizah - It wasn't just the tank controls, I can handle that just fine, and it can add to both the horror and survival elements, by making you feel contricted in your movements. It can be scary, but in Resident Evil, so long as I tempered my fear and approached my enemies calmly, I could get through it. The challenge was controlling my fear, which you'd think would be the goal of every game that calls itself "survival horror".

But, in Resident Evil, the Tank controls were the main, if not the only hinderance to your combat skills. Otherwise, it was just aim & shoot, run around, and occasionally stab. The actual combat systems weren't all that complex until RE4, and then it changed up the whole structure of the game in order to accommodate.

In Silent Hill, though, actual combat had extra kinks to it - every enemy has a fake-out death animation, ammo is limited to the point where guns have to be saved for fights with multiple enemies and/or bosses, but melee combat requires extreme amounts of timing and skill. Using any sort of attack seems to be a three step process, which drastically reduces the amount of time you have to react to an enemy. There are flying enemies and fast enemies right from the start, though they tend to be in more open areas, as far as I saw. Still, good luck trying to hit those with a pipe...enemies also seem to respawn, at least in outside locations, so you're often have to outrun enemies, but that's easier said than done, thanks to the camera and afformentioned tank controls. They can quickly become a toll every time you try to get somewhere, but healing items are still difficult to come by. I know that was a problem in RE3, which was my least favorite RE for that reason alone.

Really, I think it just went a little too far in terms of encumbering the player. If the sequels just simplied attacking, that'd go a long way in making it making it more enjoyable for me. Even on easy, I found myself quitting in frustration. There's just too many enemies and too much to explore for me to endure when every single combat situation is a slog...

@CanisWolfred I never had much of an issue with the controls in SH games. In fairness, though, you usually play an average person who is stuck in a place that closely resembles what I imagine Hell looks like. It makes sense that the game would make things hard for you. Things like the flying monsters at the start of the original game are more there to instill a constant sense of menace than to be actual obstacles you have to deal with. I don't think I've ever bothered killing one of those flying things in any of my many playthroughs (except for the one you're forced to kill at the start, of course).

If we're talking about frustrating weapons, though, while I've never had an issue with the pipe in SH, I always found the knife in RE to be a virtually useless weapon and, as a result, never bothered to get very far into a playthrough of the game as Chris.

I only used the Knife to finish enemies off who fell over, so I could make my clips last longer. Both in RE and Silent Hill. The latter was more common than the former, IIRC. Yeah, it's not something you're expected to use very often, and I think the playstation original didn't even have it set to its own button.

In SH, I always got blindsided if I tried to run from those flying enemies, thanks to the fog and the terrible camera. But maybe I just suck, I dunno. Then again, I watched two other people stream it, both of whom I know are generally better and more coordinated at games than I am, and they both had similar problems I did, except maybe they wouldn't waste half a clip on an enemy that was already dead. They'd still get hit a zillion times trying to use any melee weapon, though, even if there was only one enemy on the screen.

If it's any consollation, easy mode made it significantly more enjoyable, and I wasn't even dying that often. I was more aggrivated by how much of a chore it felt, since it seemed like combat was frequent and mandatory. Maybe approaching it the same way as Resident Evil was actually part of the problem, though. Usually in those games, it's smarter to take out your enemies when you can, so they don't take you by surprise later on when you're backtracking. And that seemed to be the right thing to do in Silent Hill...but maybe not as often as I thought...

@TheLastLugia
You and I agree for once. The thing with a lot of the games is you can easily see the Naughty Dog influence and since I like those kind of games, I'm fine with that. But the thing is Sony does have a deeper library as well but it's like it refuses to tap into it to let people know there's some cool stuff that may not get the most attention but is worth looking into. Gravity Rush for example is never going to sell like Grand Theft Auto, it won't be a system seller, but the first game is great, the second looks like it will also be great and you can't tell me with good marketing a game like that couldn't at least find 1.8 mil to 2.5 mil fans on a console with an over 40 mil userbase by the time the game comes out. It was a great show but as they say, variety is the spice of life. I'd have loved to have seen Bend's game be a new Syphon Filter by the way, rather than a game very heavily inspired by TLoU. I love that game, but we already have it and Naughty Dog is probably going to do a sequel. Why not try something a little different and little more 'gamey' vs. 'interactive experience?'

@Peek-a-boo
The RE 7 demo did the unimaginable for me after being let down a bit by 5 and massively by 6... It actually has me looking forward to the full game. Also, since we're still 7 months out and this is a proof of concept demo more than anything else, I think there's a chance we get a second, possibly more lengthy demo before the full release. Halloween would be a perfect time.

@CanisWolfred My understanding with Silent Hill is that you should only confront enemies in areas that you'll traverse heavily or when not confronting them is likely to lead to more danger. In RE, you're a walking armory who can plow through pretty much everything you find until the Hunters start making you run for your life like a little sissy because they eat your shotgun shells like they're breakfast. In SH, you're a normal Joe with a few weak weapons who has to try to survive in a horrifying, inhospitable environment. Confrontation is usually not the best option. I would argue this is why the radio is such a useful utility: it can help you to avoid unnecessary encounters, especially in more open areas.

This is one of the many things I like about REmake, by the way. You can't just run around killing zombies willy-nilly, because you only have so much gasoline and dealing with a normal zombie a few times is better than dealing with a revived crimson head even once. This little change makes you fundamentally question most of the combat encounters you'll have in the game. I usually end up only killing zombies in tight hallways as a result.

@Gamer83 I look forward to it as well. I was genuinely tense and nervous playing the demo. This is the change the series needs.

I agree. Maybe we'll get more at Gamescom or TGS. I really don't see what the problem with 2 more minutes in their conference would've been. Unfortunately, many upcoming games weren't showcased in their conference, there wasn't even an indie reel. Although it's strange that GR2 was the only first party title that got shafted I believe. Too bad, as it looks actually pretty amazing.

@Ralizah Well....I didn't realize that. I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I play. Would be nice if I had more than two or three horror franchises under my belt that I could call enjoyable (and one of those "franchises" is only one game!)...oh wait, does Dino Crisis actually count as Survival-horror?

@CanisWolfred What horror games do you enjoy, if you don't mind me asking?

I count Dino Crisis as survival horror. It's full of the same mechanics and scare techniques as Resident Evil. I don't see why it wouldn't count just because they swapped dinosaurs in to replace the zombies.

I watched a fifteen minutes summary of the Sony presser a moment ago and there are a couple of things that surprised me.

• A live orchestra was playing during the conference itself! How great is that?!
• Sony are by far and away ahead in terms of consoles sales, but they didn't show any kind of figures, graphs or stats. Humble Sony is the best Sony.
• It was non-stop games, games, games... and even more games in a tight knitted 90 minutes show. That's perfect.
• New IPs, new direction for longtime franchise(s), old games into new, and Spider-Man.
• Nary a word about the PlayStation 'Neo'. There is absolutely no need to talk about something that's potentially five or six months away, let alone a year and a half (!)
• No price drop, and why not? They keep on selling nearly a million a month, worldwide.

On the subject of horror games, Alien: Isolation, The Evil Within and SOMA are three of my favourites to play on the PlayStation 4; all three offers a very different horror experience and they each have their own stories to tell.

I never think of it as a "horror" game because it's about as scary as...Turok, honestly. It's intense, but it feels more like "Survival Action," seeing as Dinosaurs are too cool to scare me on a base level the way zombies and ghosts do...plus, it didn't seem to have the atmosphere I usually get from these kinda games, even Resident Evil. :/

Maybe I'm just being technical, though. Half-Life 2 and Left4Dead could easily count as a "horror" game for me, just because they have zombies in them. And as far as "scary games go", it doesn't get any more terrifying than stealth-action games like Metal Gear Solid. I guess both the mechanics, and the intent matter more for genre definititions than what I actually get out of it...

As for the ones I've enjoyed...Clock Tower (I've only ever tried the first on the SNES), Resident Evil (as noted), Eternal Darkness, and Dead Space 1 & 2. I just remembered Clock Tower, btw. I think the "questionable" one was Luigi's Mansion. It actually got some chills outta me, even as an adult...

EDIT: Forgot about Yume Nikki! That was a trip. Though it's more of an obscure psychodelic adventure than anything else...

@CanisWolfred The same kind of argument has been made about Resident Evil, considering its varieties of mutated monstrosities and assorted weaponry with which one can engage them. RE undoubtedly has a strong action element, as does Dino Crisis, but I guess, for me, what it comes down to is: what kind of feeling is the game trying to make you experience? Throughout much of the early part of the game, it isn't uncommon for dinosaurs to randomly and viciously attack you and your teammates. There's blood and claw marks everywhere. The place is a wreck because it was overrun with monsters. I would also point to the disempowerment of any of the sections involving the T-Rex, where you're effectively transformed from hunter into hunted. You become weak, frail, and very aware of your character's mortality.

As such, I think the difference between this and something like Turok isn't so much the subject matter as it is the way the subject matter is approached. The enemy placement, sound design, music, and various gameplay choices point toward this being intended as a horror experience. Another article I'll submit to support this is Dino Crisis 2, which is, in no way, a horror game of any kind. The subject matter isn't that different between the two games, but the approach taken, and the kinds of emotions that the game is attempting to evoke, are very, very different.

I've never played the original Clock Tower, but I'm a big fan of the one on the original Playstation. It's ugly and very basic, but I love the surge of panic I get whenever scissorman emerges onto the scene, and it has the same kind of charm that most of the PS1 horror games I've played have had.

Eternal Darkness is a great game. Probably my second favorite horror game on the system behind REmake. I love the Lovecraftian themes, the epic scale of the story, and the strange and unexpected sanity effects.

I tried the original Dead Space when it first released. It was... alright. I can appreciate why people liked it so much, but it was never really cup of tea. I've been thinking about replaying it again, as some years have passed since my last playthrough.

Since you mentioned Yume Nikki, I have to ask: have you ever played Corpse Party? It's an absolutely phenomenal little horror game.