What are you playing RIGHT NOW... or close to now?

[W]

Nope. No Steam. It’s just for use on PSN. So it is limited and VR itself is extremely limited already. Sony is pretty supportive of the technology, though.

[JohnErle]

Anybody here ever play Until Dawn? I binge-played the whole thing recently and enjoyed it immensely. It has exactly what I usually find lacking in video games, i.e. well developed characters, snappy dialogue, a compelling story (by video game standards, at least) and the cast is much better than expected, featuring Hayden Pannettiere and Freddie Mercury himself, Rami Malek. And it looks fantastic, of course.

It plays out like an interactive Netflix series with ten chapters, each roughly an hour long, and each one even begins with a "Previously on Until Dawn" recap of important events. The gameplay is pretty simple but merciless the first time through because there's no way to easily fix a mistake until you've played the story to its conclusion. You either have to go back to the very beginning or keep going to the bitter end. That helps to create a sense of forward momentum as well as a feeling that there are real consequences to your choices and actions. You slipped and fell in hour two while trying to rescue the first horny teenager who was taken? Too bad, she's dead meat and there's nothing you can do about it. You made that character you were rooting for investigate that strange noise in chapter nine like every idiot character who ever got killed in a horror movie? She's toast and it's your stupid fault. Once you've finished the game you can go back and replay chapters to try and save characters who didn't make it the first time through, or try different interactions to see if two characters will hook up or get into a fight this time around.

You also take control of all 8 characters at some point, helping to create a sense of empathy for all of them, which I thought was ingenious. I kept thinking how much better Alien: Isolation or Middle Earth: Battle For Mordor would have been if it had ever felt like you were controlling a living, breathing character who you were actually motivated to save. And this game engine could be a fantastic way to do licensed games, like an X-Files adventure.

Reading some reviews afterwards the recommendations I got were Heavy Rain, L.A. Noire, and Life Is Strange, so I'm going to have to check out some of those. Any other recommendations for similar titles that place an emphasis on character and story as opposed to button mashing?

[W]

I've played LA Noire and it isn't a ton like what you're talking about. Heavy Rain is. LA Noire is Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption) set against the (from what I've read) fairly authentic post WWII Los Angeles. You're a detective trying to solve crimes some of which are linked to the bigger mystery.

If you want choices and an emphasis on story you should try TellTale Games. Style-wise, they're pretty much the console successor to point and click adventures. They get licenses to pretty big franchises (The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Batman, Borderlands, Minecraft, Guardians of the Galaxy) and they have their own (The Wolf Among US). There's also Jurassic Park and Back to the Future, but those seem a little dated in comparison (good... but dated). There is a bit of button mashing and characters will remember your earlier choices and the dialogue reflects that. They're in chapters and each one take 30 minutes to an hour and a half to complete. They're pretty cheap as well. I got like four or five seasons for like $20 in a PSN deal. You can find some disc-based and the others are on the PS store or Steam or wherever. I'd say anything starting with Walking Dead #1 (except Poker Night 2) would be good. And I would do them in order if there are sequels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telltale_ ... _developed

[JohnErle]

One of the reviews mentioned TellTale Games, but I wasn't sure what they were talking about. Thanks for the info. I glanced at their titles on Steam and the one that seems most appealing to me is Sam & Max, but I might give the Batman one a try since it's a lot newer. I've never seen The Walking Dead and have zero interest in zombies, so that one's a tough sell for me.

I love Film Noir, though, which is why L.A. Noire is high on my list of games to try. And I read a bit about that motion capture system where you have to read the faces of suspects you're interrogating to determine if they're lying, so the game sounds intriguing. Hopefully it doesn't throw an endless series of puzzles at you. That's something that always turned me off with adventure games.

There were a couple of games I loved way back in my Amiga days called Rise Of The Dragon and Heart Of China that were both very story driven, and Until Dawn is the closest thing I've ever seen to the way those played out. Hopefully there's a few more out there now I'll enjoy the same way.

I also found the first chapter of Life Is Strange for free on Steam, so I'll see what that's all about.

[W]

Walking Dead has little to do with the series. In every season, there are one or two side characters that you'd notice but if you haven't seen the series/read the comic it really won't matter. TWD is pretty much their flagship title right now, so it'd be a decent one to play. Aside from that, The Wolf Among Us would be a good title. It's original and set in a grim Sin City-esque world where fairy tale creatures are normal everyday Joes.

[JohnErle]

I hated Sin City, so that's not a big selling point either. It seems like 90% of all video games are set in some grim, post-apocalyptic or nightmare scenario.

[Buscemi2]

Or they're FPS's that parents think it's okay to let an elementary school kid play.

[JohnErle]

Thanks to W's recommendation, I played the Telltale Games version of Game Of Thrones and enjoyed it very much. The writing was excellent, and I won't even use the caveat “for a video game.” The graphics and voice acting weren't nearly as impressive as Until Dawn, and even the name actors from the show delivered rather wooden performances, but that may be partly because of the lifeless expressions from the mo-cap characters. The choices you make didn't seem to have as much impact on how the story unfolds, and the ability to instantly replay any mistakes you made during the action sequences means it didn't have the same sense of urgency, but apart from that the gameplay was pretty similar.

I also played Firewatch, which was pretty cheap and one of the games PSN recommended for me, but didn't enjoy it as much. It gets off to a pretty amazing start, setting up a surprisingly poignant backstory for why your character chose to spend a summer in isolation in a remote area, but the more you play the sillier the story becomes, although the dialogue choices and performances by the two voice actors are very good. I liked the look of it, and the fact that it had adult characters dealing with adult issues, but it doesn't quite follow through on its strong start.

[W]

Grabbed RDR2 today. Three days from now when it's done installing I'm going to have a blast.

[JohnErle]

I spent a lot more time gaming this year than I did watching movies or listening to music, so I may as well do a quick recap of the games I played. The NHL series is still my prime gaming obsession, but it's hardly worth reviewing because you're either into hockey or you're not. I only recently picked up NHL 19 and haven't really dived into it because I'm still trying to get my Quebec Nordiques expansion team into the playoffs in NHL 18, but I am intrigued by the new scouting system in Franchise Mode, which is my go-to and the only pure strategy game I've found on the PS4 so far.

Detroit: Beyond Human (8/10)

My quest to find something akin to Until Dawn led me to this, which is very similar in style and gameplay. The choices you make do have a pretty significant impact on how the story unfolds, and the performances and visuals make up for the occasional lapses in storytelling. The overall theme is nothing new, but the characters are well developed, there's a lot of nice small moments, and I liked how the android revolution goes a lot more smoothly when you take the non-violent route. On the downside, there's a secret that's painfully obvious early on which one of the playable characters takes forever to figure out, and the explanation for her obliviousness makes no sense. Also, there's an annoying choice you have to make near the end where the only way to save an innocent android's life is to deceive an innocent human and abandon them in a dangerous situation, so in order to save the android's life you have to sacrifice another's humanity. Despite the game's flaws, I picked up a double-pack of Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls, so I'll be giving those a shot at some point.

LA Noire (8/10)

There's a story here as well, but like W mentioned a while back it's also got an open-world feel that allows for a lot more exploring than Detroit: BH or Until Dawn. I love Film Noir, and when I read about the interrogation mechanism that really made me want to try to game, but it wound up being the weakest element of the gameplay. Your choices are always the same, Good Cop, Bad Cop, and J'Acusse!, but it's impossible to know exactly what your character is going to say with either choice, and the results felt so random I wound up using a walkthrough to get the best results. I enjoyed the shootouts, car chases, and times you had to discreetly tail someone on foot or by car, so this is a case where the gameplay and appealing Film Noir environment made up for the ho-hum story and performances.

I also just started The Last Of Us and I'm enjoying the balance of gameplay, story, and character development, although I laughed out loud the first time I saw the boss zombies with what appeared to be potted plants on their heads. Incredulous laughter probably isn't the reaction they were looking for with a horror survival game.

[W]

There's another The Last Of Us coming in the next year or two. If you like the gameplay then you should check out Uncharted 2, 4, and Lost Legacy. It's like Nathan Fillion playing Indiana Jones, but with a Ryan Reynolds/Chris Pratt wit. 1 and 3 are good games in their own right, but #2 is the absolute best PS3 game (1, 2, and 3 were remastered on one disc for PS4) and #4 and Lost Legacy play more like the next TLOU will.

All the Uncharteds are cheap ($20 or less for the 1-3 remastered pack, $5-10 for #4, and $15 or so for Lost Legacy).

[JohnErle]

Thanks. I've heard good things about the Uncharted series, so I might give them a shot at some point.

How's Red Dead Redemption? I know it's Rockstar, so does it play anything like LA Noire?

One thing I've noticed since I got back into gaming is that characters are really important to me, as well as the environment you're in. I got bored of Middle Earth: Battle of Mordor and Alien: Isolation pretty quickly, and I think the lack of character development was a big reason why.

[W]

RDR2 kinda just bores me. It’s basically a horse riding simulator. You spend so much time getting from place to place. I’m only a few hours into it, but I don’t know if I want to go on. It doesn’t really pull me in like the first.

[Ron Burgundy]

Heh, perfect timing to reply to W.

So, after about 2 months on and off, i finished Red Dead Redemption 2. I guess i can say with confidence that i enjoyed the first one more. The first one had a pretty seamless story/world, where as this one feels a little bit more patchwork- map wise. The characters are awesome though, i loved being part of an outlaw gang and you really do get to know each one with their unique personalities. There prob was quite enough 'realistic' parts of the game, you have to eat, shave, smoke, pat and feed your horse- But you can actually get away without sleeping once.

If i had to give both Red Dead ratings, no. 1 would be 9.5/10 and no. 2 would be 7.5/10

The main story mode is a little bit too short, i could have played twice as many story missions as i was still fine tuning my game style (lots of headshots, not alot of deadeye- yes i know, thats stupid, but hard). I only just earned max bonding level with my horse and then it died (because of the story).

I did some extra activities, but was going to do some of these with a new story mode, where i play a very dishonourable arthur morgan (my first playthru i played super honourable). Now im seriously contemplating putting the game in the rack and perhaps never returning.

Thats because i just read about this Telltale games- for GoT. I had better try that ASAP

Also, i enjoyed L.A Noire too.

[W]

FYI Telltale closed in November and cancelled GoT Season 2, Wolf Among Us 2, and Stranger Things. So what’s out is all we’ll get.