Hey guys,
Hope there hasn't been a thread like this too recently -- I saw
this one and thought it was old enough (and my tastes different enough) to warrant a new one, but feel free to point me elsewhere if I'm mistaken.
My friend bought me a PS3 for my birthday, and it should be arriving this week. (Side note: his capacity to buy gifts like this makes me wonder why I'm trying to be a professional writer while he's doing banking stuff, but whatever :P .) I have a 360 already, so I'd prefer recommendations that aren't multiplatform (unless there's a good reason to go for the PS3 version), and I feel like I should mention that I have a part-time job and a full courseload, so unless you can really make a case for Demon's Souls not requiring a huge time investment, maybe steer away from titles like that...
Otherwise, I'm thinking of picking up Killzone 2 and 3D Dot Heroes pretty much right away. I like that there's a strong multiplayer component to Killzone 2, and that it'll look glorious on my TV, and 3D Dot Heroes seems right up my alley: old-school, Zelda-esque action that allows me to waste hours designing my own character? Perfect.
I'm wondering about Killzone 2 versus Resistance 2, though: if I prefer something a little more on the arcade-y side, should I go for the latter?
Also, I know nothing about the PS3's downloadable content and other non-gaming features, so I'd love to hear what you guys think about that stuff, as well.
Thanks!
Posts
Get Demon's Souls right before your winter break, and infamous is really good.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
Little Big Planet is easily the best game I have bought for the system, works great for groups of people and always has new free levels to play that are nothing short of awesome (think there is a PSN demo too)
If you like big shooters, MAG is about as big as it gets, 256 playercount servers and such. They just put out the big 2.0 patch that breathed a lot of new life into the game. (No demo)
Heavy Rain is a FANTASTIC game, definitely worth a buy. Sure its kind of a weird concept game but the best way to play it is with friends / wife sitting around watching you play it and enjoying it like a movie (Demo is available, make sure you grab the right one. They just put one out that requires the Move controls and I dont know if it works both ways)
I tried so damn hard to get into valkyria chronicles, I would suggest doing the demo first to make sure its your kind of game. (Demo available)
If you like PSN games, Flower is a MUST buy for your artsy gameplay, its beautiful, colorful, described by some as poetry in a video game...also it makes you grow chest hair...go figure
Fat Princess is kinda meh, another psn game, team based capture the flag stuff
If you are into motion control I really love the new playstation Move controller stuff that just came out, though thats a $100 cash sink right now for a sports game, controller, and playstation eye camera
Also, since its always a pain to find people to play games with, feel free to add my PSN name to your buddy list, its MeepZero
Both of the Uncharteds must be purchased. Annd that's all I got.
Is there still much of a community for Killzone 2? Or are you talking local multiplayer? Hopefully the latter, as the number of online games seemed rather limited already when I played through Killzone 2, and that was before COD MW2 came out...
I preferred Resistance 2 to Killzone 2. Everything about Killzone 2 was more generic, from weapons to characters to storyline.
Cutscenes in Resistance 2 are just as glorious as those in Killzone 2, btw :P
Infamous is just a really good open world type game. Definitely worth checking out if you own a PS3. There's a demo on PSN.
Killzone 2 is visually impressive, but its basically a generic shooter where meatheads yell unconvincing profanity for about 6-8 hours.
Flower and Pixeljunk Shooter are really neat, unique downloadable games. They're pretty cheap and pretty awesome.
Seriously, get Demon's Souls. No game has ever scared me like Demon's Souls. It is a game that deserves any and all sound design awards that can be imagined...and that's just the sound. Every other aspect of the game is just as amazing. Awesome fucking game.
Just Cause 2
Now, this is a multiplatform game but the PS3 version is superior in that it has built-in video capture and Youtube upload, which is fantastic for a game like this where ridiculous and amazing things happen on a regular basis. I'm gonna make a bold statement here but: I've had more fun with Just Cause 2 than every other open-world game ever made ever...combined. It is Fun distilled and purified to it's most delicious form. I still play it every so often, if only for five minutes, just so I can drive motorcycles off mountains or...fall down a waterfall...whatevs...it's just a fun fucking game.
Recommendations that need no explanation:
Metal Gear Solid 4
Little Big Planet
Pixeljunk Shooter
Pixeljunk Eden is pretty sweet too, if you are into tricky platforming with weird visuals and music that is both soothing and obnoxious. It's hit or miss, I dunno.
Demon's Souls does require a huge time investment, but the way it's structured you could play it in smaller chunks and still get a huge sense of accomplishment. Just beating a level in that game is a treat, and you're always learning how to do things better.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
I think so.
Opinions always vary, especially regarding MGS4, but MY opinion is that it is pretty fricking awesome.
Multiplat, but Burnout Paradise is awesome on PS3. It was the lead platform for development. I hated the 360 demo, but love the PS3 game. Just get yourself some real triggers and you're all set.
1) Demon's Souls. Unless you are going for trophies it's honestly not huge on time investment. For many levels there are ways to open up shortcuts so if you can't play all the way through you'll be able to skip sections next time you play. Levels usually take about an hour without shortcuts.
2) Infamous. Such an excellent open world game. The powers are very fun.
3) Ratchet & Clank. All of these are good if you like shooter/platformers.
4) MAG. Really really good if you like shooters.
5) Heavy Rain. Yeah, some people bitch about plot holes, but honestly if you just chill and enjoy the experience it can be really fun and entertaining.
6) Uncharted. I've only completed the first one so far, but it was excellent.
7) Little Big Planet. And excellent platformer, especially if you have a regular gaming buddy. My fiancee and I boot it up every once in a while and it's a blast.
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I've been playing a lot of red dead redemption; I know you are not looking for cross platform games but GTA 4; and both of its expansions plus read dead are great games. I did beat infamous and powered through the story and I never went exploring much but customizing your lightning/electric skills are always fun.
Modern warfare 2 is a good multiplayer shooter; final fantasy 13 is an okay RPG; there are some ports of ps3 games that are being translated and redone for the US market.
I wish there were more co-op games like kane and lynch or more of the puzzle action game like uncharted 1 and 2; those are really fun when playing with a friend
Best damn game you will EVER play.
I have Red Dead on 360 and I absolutely love it... Maybe I'll check out Infamous for more awesome sandbox stuff? I don't really like Modern Warfare at all and, being a lifelong fan of the series, was woefully disappointed by FFXIII on the 360. :?
I... do not understand. Resistance 2 had no interesting characters, pretty generic weapons (especially compared to the original), a near nonexistent storyline and completely scripted bosses. The graphics were decent at best and fucking horrible at worst. I mean really (ignoring the Google Maps watermark, since that was photoshopped in), Resistance 2's graphics are not even comparable to Killzone 2's.
Killzone 2 was better than Resistance 2 in pretty much every single department. Level design, graphics, set pieces, animation, weapons and even story. Except maybe Co-op, that was the one redeeming part of Resistance 2.
However, I'm not sure I'd call Killzone 2 arcadey. I guess it depends on how you define arcadey but Killzone's a bit slower paced than your average shooter (somewhere between CoD and Ghost Recon I'd roughly guess).
Anyway, here's my lists of awesome.
PS3 Exclusives
Demon's Souls
God of War Collection
God of War 3
Heavy Rain - Maybe just a rent if you're iffy on it
inFamous
Killzone 2
LittleBigPlanet - Though you might want to wait for LBP2
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Valkyria Chronicles
Yakuza 3
PSN Exclusives
Critter Crunch
Flower
Joe Danger
Pixeljunk Eden
Pixeljunk Monsters
Pixeljunk Shooter
Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty
Shatter
Super Stardust HD
Trine
Wipeout HD
Future Games
Dead Space: Extraction (PSN) - Packed in with PS3 version of Dead Space 2
Disgaea 4
Gran Turismo 5
ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Collection
Infamous 2
Journey (PSN)
Killzone 3
Last Guardian
LittleBigPlanet 2
Ninokuni
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (PSN)
Pixeljunk Shooter 2 (PSN)
Sly Collection
Yakuza 4
Here are all the PS3 exclusives I can personally recommend.
Highest praise goes to God of War III, Demon's Souls, inFamous, Uncharted 2, Valkyria Chronicles, Siren: Blood Curse and Metal Gear Solid 4 (if you're a fan of the series).
GoWIII aside, all of those titles can be found for pretty cheap nowadays (inFamous, Demon's Souls & Uncharted 2 are all greatest hits now, VC is cheap in the States and Siren: Blood Curse is $30 on PSN around Halloween).
Oh, and if you prefer your shooters "arcadey," Resistance is definitely the way to go. Killzone is still a solid title - it's just much slower-paced.
The online in Resistance 2 is ugly, dated, and shitty. Killzone 2, OTOH, is nearly on a level with Modern Warfare. Lack of party support and some odd choices in the class system hold KZ2 back a bit, but I still like the way it handles better than any shooter on the 360.
No don't do this
This game sucks and is dumb and if you have an ounce of respect for any kind of story it will make you want to curl up and die
Just get Uncharted 1, play through all it's dumb parts, then get Uncharted 2 and realize why it's one of the best games of the generation, then play inFamous because it's pretty awesome and maybe download Pixeljunk Shooter and Afterburner Climax and shit
Don't know about Resistance 2 but Killzone 2 is sort of the opposite of the floaty arcadey Halo-type stuff, so maybe steer clear of that if you don't like it?
Oh! Also there's Yakuza 3, if you like punching and kicking dudes and weird Japanese shit, and Way of the Samurai 3 if you like cutting dudes and old samurai movies and weird Japanese shit
And Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time, which is apparently pretty awesome but I haven't played it yet, and Red Dead Redemption if you don't have it already
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Oh well
Use that opportunity to instead get Infamous and Uncharted 1 and 2. Infamous is still the most enjoyable game this gen.
God of War Collection and GoW3 are all fantastic as well
Valkyria Chronicles, Heavy Rain, and Heavenly Sword are also pretty neat
It's fun
Why on Earth would you play a Japanese strategy game for its story?
Perhaps you are the one who sucks and is dumb!
Well uh
It depends
Basically you can go through that game with the starting gun, slap a silencer and a scope on it and headshot dudes who can't even see you and waltz through pretty much all of the gameplay
Or you can do all the crazy shit, like wear disguises and sick different factions on each other and CQC dudes and customize the shit out of all kinds of weapons for no reason
It basically depends on how creative you care to get, and how much you give a shit that the interface is godawful
The online is essentially nonexistent, because of it's shitty implementation
As for the story, uh... you can pause the cutscenes, so you can stop to pee or make a sandwich, but no one is joking when they tell you that there are cutscenes over thirty minutes long in that game
So it depends on how devoted you are to seeing how fucking batshit Kojima gets at the tail end of a series that he lost his grip on two games ago
Except that it's not fun because a key element of the game is random bullshit happening for no reason and fucking you over, which is exactly what I want in my turn based strategy game
Also one hit kills on the main character means instant game over. FUN
And I can handle a dumb story. But Valkyria Chronicles story isn't just dumb - it's fucking colossally stupid in a way I've rarely encountered before and if anyone actually likes it I am prepared to go on a journey to find them and slap them really hard in the mouth
...okay I'm done
Don't buy that game, dude
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Oh hey, all of these dudes are all like "Get Uncharted 2, it's the coolest", and they are absolutely right.
BUT
There is a GOTY edition coming out fairly soon that has the game and all of the DLC for fifty clams. The DLC is all multiplayer stuff, so if you're only looking to do singleplayer you should just grab the regular edition. It's $40 right now, but if you wait until the GOTY version comes out it'll drop in price.
Also, you mentioned Killzone 2, and I can tell you that not only is it pretty rad, but it's nice looking as well. I've only farted around with the multiplayer though, nothing serious yet, so if you do get it and want to get some multi on send me a PM and we can swap PSN IDs. Some of it won't make as much sense if you haven't played the original game though (for example, why one of your supporting characters does basically everything he does in the game).
What other genres are you into? It would be easier to target our recommendations if we knew what you dug.
As for the non-gaming features you asked about, if you've got a high-def TV you should start checking out Blu-Ray movies. If you like action movies, Arnold/Stallone films, Sci-Fi, or buddy cop movies than there are a ton of awesome ones you can get for $10 or less.
Also, Hulu Plus and Netflix. Hulu is $10 a month and Netflix is $9 a month. Hulu Plus is still in Preview, but Netflix is up and running and later this month it'll be downloadable as well (you can use it now, but you have to have Netflix send you a disc that you have to put into the PS3 every time you want to stream a movie).
And I'm going to downvote Killzone 2. I hated every minute of it, and only grudgingly finished it for completions sake. I'm all for cursing and blood and the "hooah-kill-our-enemies" spirit, but it gets old, fast. The graphics are neat, sure, but it doesn't make up for many other shortcomings in the game.
Little Big Planet is great, but I'd say wait for LBP2, which is due next year or so.
And Infamous is great, but a little frustrating at times. It is all made up for in how awesome your character can be.
Oh and PixelJunk: Shooter is the only PSN game you need. And the other Pixeljunk games. And whatever else you find on the cheap.
Just looking through my collection:
428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya De -- If you speak Japanese, get this.
Tales of Vesperia -- Japan only, great game
Ryu ga Gotoku (Yakuza) Kenzan -- Awesome game, Japan only
Uncharted II -- I don't get why people love this game so much. Lots of impressive visuals, but boring gameplay and shallow story.
Demons Souls -- As others have said, this is a great aRPG.
Tears to Tiara -- Japan only. A second tier sRPG. Not bad, not good either.
Ryu ga Gotoku 3 (Yakuza 3) -- Not as good as Kenzan due to a hopelessly stupid story. It's still fun as hell to explore kabu--- err, kamurocho.
Metal Gear Solid 4 -- I had fun with it. Perhaps this is because I never took the series seriously in the first place though.
Rachet And Clank Future -- It's pretty good, but very easy.
Battleground of the Valkyrie -- It's pretty, but I feel that the strategy element was pretty shallow. Rather, the game rewards speed over everything so encourages you to make stupid decisions. The games story is epically horrible as well.
This fall I have high hopes for Catherine, Tales of Graces F and Umineko. Gran Turismo is coming out, which I expect genre fans will love. The Japan online store has a shitton of great PS titles: The Silver Case, Langrisser 4/5, Xenogears, Legend of Mana, Chocobo Mysterious Dungeon etc. The NA store apparently isn't that good.
This is pretty much how I felt about that game as well. I LOVE turn based strategy, and thought the combat in VC was pretty damn cool, but I just couldn't get past the weeaboo. Your enjoyment of VC is going to depend entirely on if you can tolerate anime. If you enjoy anime, you will love the fuck out of VC. If most anime makes your brain hurt you will only get about a 3rd of the way through the game before you have to stop playing.
It is really a try before you buy type of game, see if you can rent it or get it off Gamefly first. There is a demo, but honestly I don't think it's a terribly good representation of the game as a whole.
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift is a pretty good arcade style racer if your into that, but Motorstorm: Apocalypse is due early next year so maybe you should wait.
Modnations Racers is a nice kart racer, and there is Gran Turismo 5, of course.
Also, flOw and Noby Noby Boy are cool... things.
I wouldn't really call them games, but they're definitely worth checking out.
I'm let down it's taken up to here for Uncharted to be mentioned! Fantastic games, amazing looking, thoroughly compelling and the second has some of the best multi (in my opinion) on the PS3. My favourite games of this generation.
If you like survival horror then you owe yourself a good scare with Siren. Probably my favourite survival horror this generation.
I'd highly recommend the Ratchett and Clank games, I don't know if I'm in the minority but I preferred Tools of Destruction over Crack in Time, but both are fantastic. Also the chapter in between you can buy on PSN is pretty cool (but quite limited).
Wipeout is beautiful, fast and exciting. Definitely worth a purchase.
Pixeljunk Shooter and PixelJunk Eden are both fantastic, though Eden is definitely an aquired taste.
Crash Commandos is really fun if you like some multiplayer side scrolling shooty goodness.
Flower is fun, and a great experience.
If there's a sale on you could try Echochrome, I loved it and got plenty of time out of it.
Joe Danger is a really fun platform/motorbike game.
I'm sure there are a ton of others I'm forgetting but this thread is already full of awesome suggestions.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
While Demon's Souls is not for everyone (I have several friends who were beaten by it). It's simply a must play game. The atmosphere, challenge and gameplay are all superb. It's the closest thing to a modern roguelike out there. At the very least give it a rent and see if you want to invest the time it takes to finish it.
Apparently Demon Souls is next on my list.
I did not like Flower, despite it seemingly being up my alley.
All of my PSN use has been from old PS1 games (Castlevanias, FFIX, Street Fighter Alpha, MvC2) which may or may not be what you're looking for.
For the record, I loved the co-op. There are 7-8 levels in total that act as instanced dungeons on game maps where you select a class (gunner, medic, support) and try to tackle random objectives with your teammates so you can level up and purchase class upgrades. You can level each class to 30; I played the online for about 25 hours and my soldier only hit 29 (where you get your last unlockable secondary weapon) and quit playing.
Yes, the graphics aren't the greatest, but the gunplay is very well done and it's incredibly challenging, in a non-bullshit way; not to sleigh Killzone 2, but infinitely respawning enemies pissed me off, and the enemies all acted as bullet sponges. I loved KZ 2, but it wasn't as great as everyone made it out to be. I did like the story, although having played the first I found some of the character actions incongruent in the long run, but I'm a gamer who takes story very, very seriously.
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor
My new novel: Maledictions: The Offering. Now in Paperback!
Nah
Anime is the fucking worst thing to ever come out of Japan
But the game was good enough for me to see it through to the end
Only strategy game I've ever enjoyed
I hate anime
I love this game
ed: Et tu, Olivaw