Topic: The PlayStation Fan Thread

Decided to go back to Horizon Zero Dawn yesterday evening. Two months later, and I am still in awe of this game:

@Peek-a-boo It's worth mentioning that Ori and the Blind Forest is on Steam, so it's hardly a selling point for Microsoft's console.

I think it's telling that Microsoft's big plans involve showing off a big, superpowered console with nothing exclusive to go alongside it, more than likely.

picked up Nioh finally today... but i'm knee deep into P5. GR2 still awaiting for me as well.
Think i'm done with Overwatch till the next event. Sux they make you play another Blizz game to unlock certain skins.. especially the Police D.VA skin. She's one of my mains. OWell.

@Ralizah Similar to how I cannot see the Switch surprising everybody with an impressive array of third party announcements at E3, I also cannot see the Xbox One providing an abundance of new games that doesn't have any ties into the seemingly never-ending trio of the 'Forza, Gears and Halo' cycle.

Sea of Thieves is a good start, while State of Play 2 is the natural evolution for a sequel to what was once a janky but worthwhile Xbox Live Arcade game. The rest though? I am just not seeing the right moves being made to feel partly enthusiastic about the Xbox brand at this moment in time.

As I always do; I keep an open mind, go in with low expectations and hope for the best!

We have come a long way in just four and a half years:

@Peek-a-boo Comparing a still image to motion of something.

Plus the still images show the same thing...the gif does not.

So...what are we comparing here?

@BLP_Software You think the still image shows the same thing?

One is Gran Turismo 6 (hence me saying 'we have a come a long way in four and a half years', since GT6 came out in December 2013) while the other is Gran Turismo Sport. I probably don't have to tell you which is which, right?

The gif is just for show! The physics, the (time of day) lighting, the shadows, the dust, the tyre smoke and so on and on.

It's impressive to see how things have come along in a relatively short space of time.

@Peek-a-boo It certainly is and its good to see.

Everything still moves like its a game and the lighting reflects in an unusually shiny way but yeah it looks good.

Want to know why im not impressed or wowed?

Simple.

Four and a half years. Big box under a telly. Its what i expected

@BLP_Software To be honest, very few games impress me these days with the exception of the two games on this very same page; Gran Turismo Sport and Horizon Zero Dawn.

Visually, they are so ahead of the competition and they both have a natural look about them, robo-dinosaurs notwithstanding!

I really like - and appreciate - games that genuinely appear to be pushing the limits of whatever system they are on, but I also like games with a stylised look about them; Guacamelee!, Hotline Miami, Journey, Thomas Was Alone and most recently, What Remains of Edith Finch are some of my favourites too.

Everybody's different.

@Peek-a-boo I'm on the opposite spectrum, that realistic looking games are starting to kill creative artstyles

@ZeldaFan50 Motion pictures didn't ''kill'' cartoons or animations, so I don't think you have to worry at all.

That seems a bit silly. Using 1 art style doesn't take away from another one. People just use realistic styles a bit more than others.
That wasn't always the case. And it might change in the future. 10 years down the line it might be that realistic art styles are mostly just used for VR games and the rest try other things.

If you look at any Switch game you'll see that Nintendo is taking over previously realistic-looking series with typical anime stylings. If anything, the realistic art style is being driven to extinction in niche genres like Zelda.

For starters, they aren't inherently any more 'artistic' or 'creative' than visual realism, they just have louder colors. It takes every bit as much creativity to observe and recreate the natural world — especially the parts that humans don't commonly see like the shape of a riverbed, the shadow cast down by clouds in the sky, and the changing colors of the light during winter.

I have serious issues with cartoon-like art styles, namely that the caricatures and reduce all of this detail. Many time games with bright colors and plastic faces have extremely un-detailed and overlooked environments. Life is Strange is a good example of how not to do this, focusing on both simple colors + bold lighting and intricately detailed rooms that tell a story about the other characters.

What's most important to me about an art style isn't the skin — the art style — but the meat. That is, the art assets and 3D models. More detailed games like Uncharted 4, Life is Strange, and Twilight Princess will have a lot of them. Lots of clutter in houses and ruins, explaining and further developing those characters. There are entire plot lines told entirely through detail in the later two game's environments, which only helps to make a world feel real and alive.

I don't agree that's necessarily true. If you're copying reality, you can literally copy things like attractive architecture, functional scenery layout, etc. You can also texture your artwork with photos.
Fantasy stuff and cartoony art styles don't necessarily have those advantages. A lot of the textures are hand painted. And a lot of the scenery is imagined.
It's a lot harder to imagine something like a fictional city and make it look interesting and attractive than it is to literally just copy new york city.

This is a thing:

Started playing Darksiders the other day on PS4 and I have to say what an absolute gem of a game it is. I am sure alot of you have played it by now but this is my first time. Gameplay wise it feels like a Zelda game with the dungeons and exploration while combat feels like Bayonetta. I will probably start the second one after I finish this one. Is the second one as good as this one?

@Octane That looks absolutely charming!

Reminds me of De Blob and Kororinpa in terms of aethestics, visuals and general gameplay mechanics.

I have decided to go back to playing Yooka-Laylee, because I feel like I should give it a chance after a fairly uninspiring start, as well as being a backer for the project on Kickstarter. So far, I am enjoying 50% of it while finding the other 50% rather joyless. There's a lot to like and dislike in equal measure.

I am currently tearing my hair out at trying to manoeuvre the snow plow whilst finding those flipping hats for the various snowmen scattered around Glitterglaze Glacier. It is an extremely irritable 'quest' to do.

@Tasuki

They're about equally good in terms of quality. Darksiders 2 is a bit more open world and a bit more RPG based. Also different type of setting.

@Dezzy That's good to know. It sounds like it is a bigger improvement to the first one, but still retains what made the first one good in the first place.

Darksiders 2 imo, is better than the first but it's also probably a bit longer than it needed to be. Though if you like dungeons, you are in for a treat!