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Sony could do with some more non-realistic, gameplay focused games like pre-2013

lordrand11

Member
The vast majority of Sony's catalogue during the 2010s and onwards like TLOU, Uncharted, HZD/FW, Death Stranding, etc are too story-heavy and realistic for a lot of peoples tastes. They used to have plenty of "fun" games like Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter and inFAMOUS but now they rarely pump out those type of games anymore and even the ones they do(like Spiderman) still have the narrative gimmicks present like slow walking, investigation scenes, forced stealth scenes that bog down the game. There isn't much in Sony's library(or pretty much modern gaming in general besides indies) to scratch that simple fun game vibe anymore. That's all a lot of gamers want, we don't want just interactive movies when we could just watch an actual movie. And real life is depressing, why would we want games to be like that, gaming is supposed to be an escape from all of that.

On the other hand, Nintendo's exclusives have always been "gameplay first" and Xbox has plenty of fun looking non-cinematic games like Sunset Overdrive, Hi-Fi Rush, Killer Instinct and the newly released Palworld. For the first time, i'm tempted to grab an Xbox since their exclusives look vastly superior in 2024.
That's been a huge complaint of mine against them since 2014. This cinematic masterpiece bullshit usually has just meh gameplay and not very much replayability. I have been damn near exclusive PC since then because of that.
 
I dislike the sentiment that their output on PS4 was the complete opposite.

Well, it certainly wasn't during the first half I'd say. People forget about Knack, Knack 2, Resogun, Tearaway Unfolded, Gravity Rush 2, SOTC Remake etc. Unfairly so, IMO.

But it has to be said that during the second half of the gen those types of games from 1P more or less went away, outside one-offs like R&C and Dreams (which given the timing it was first revealed, I assumed would have been a 2016 game at the latest). Getting a good deal of defacto 3P exclusives and specific 3P exclusives covering those types helped to make up for it, but I feel the shift in balance from the 1P was still noticeable.

I mean you have people from Insomniac themselves stating the virtues and benefits of AA 1P releases; I think it'd be a much smarter play for Sony to prioritize more 1P AA kind of like during the PS3 and early PS4 eras than, say, port the big AAA tentpole releases to PC. At least with the porting cadence they seem to be delivering.

Not enough chance to check boxes in those unrealistic games ... western sony studios are all about checkin boxes these days ... and they axed most of their japanese branch.... so fat chance

No they didn't; they let some of the Japan Studio people go but absorbed most of them into Team Asobi. And AFAIK, Polyphony Digital are larger than ever.

This just shows the danger in how fake narratives take hold so easily, if anything.
 

nial

Gold Member
But it has to be said that during the second half of the gen those types of games from 1P more or less went away
I disagree, the sentiment comes from the fact that they were the most advertised titles during this era, which is where I was going with my earlier post here.
We need to stop pretending Sony didn't spend an entire generation shilling Uncharted and Infamous (all which I really like :messenger_grinning:).
I mean, take a look at their 2019 lineup; it consisted of two big games (Days Gone and Death Stranding), with a lot of the rest being smaller-scale stuff.
 

Bernardougf

Gold Member
Well, it certainly wasn't during the first half I'd say. People forget about Knack, Knack 2, Resogun, Tearaway Unfolded, Gravity Rush 2, SOTC Remake etc. Unfairly so, IMO.

But it has to be said that during the second half of the gen those types of games from 1P more or less went away, outside one-offs like R&C and Dreams (which given the timing it was first revealed, I assumed would have been a 2016 game at the latest). Getting a good deal of defacto 3P exclusives and specific 3P exclusives covering those types helped to make up for it, but I feel the shift in balance from the 1P was still noticeable.

I mean you have people from Insomniac themselves stating the virtues and benefits of AA 1P releases; I think it'd be a much smarter play for Sony to prioritize more 1P AA kind of like during the PS3 and early PS4 eras than, say, port the big AAA tentpole releases to PC. At least with the porting cadence they seem to be delivering.



No they didn't; they let some of the Japan Studio people go but absorbed most of them into Team Asobi. And AFAIK, Polyphony Digital are larger than ever.

This just shows the danger in how fake narratives take hold so easily, if anything.
So lets wait and see what Team Asobi bring to this Sony presentation today after this years of silence post the Ps5 launch.
 

Topher

Gold Member
How do you expect them to push their propaganda without all those cutscenes?
840783.jpg
 

StereoVsn

Member
I'd be fine if there was at least a more even split of gameplay/story focused content but with Sony it's like 90% Realistic story games, 10% Fun games nowadays.

I don't see many other compenies doing that other than indies and some eastern companies.
Gravity Rush series is a great example of these AA type games that were pretty great.
 
too story-heavy and realistic for a lot of peoples tastes.
Who are these people? I love their games and these games are selling like crazy.
More variety might hurt them financially.
Games nowadays take many years and devs to develop.

For me personally, I don't mind at all the direction PlayStation is taking.
It's pretty clear that PlayStation thinks of gameplay systems that fits within the overall theme, feel of the game and its audience.

What you are basically asking is for PS to shift its focus away from its target audience, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
What makes more sense is that PS partners with other studios to bring these kind of games so that they can cover a wider audience.
Which is exactly what they are already doing.
Examples of these are Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade, Lost Soul Aside, etc.

Sidenote: It would be a dream if PS decides to partner with RGG Studios, ngl.
 

kiphalfton

Member
Beat God of War (2018), and although there is obviously gameplay in there it takes a back seat to "story telling".

But this is modern Sony, where even when you're in the thick of playing the game it gets interrupted by characters who won't STFU, a million notes/recordings/etc. strewn about, forced walking sections, etc.

This is all present in GoW, TLOU, Days Gone, etc.

I get why people like Nintendo games, as there's minimal story, gameplay doesn't feel stiff, the game isn't padded with useless skill trees, etc.
 

Roxkis_ii

Member
I like most Sony first party games, but it feels like they have movie writers making their game storylines cringe.

Gow 2 and spiderman Miles Morales come to mind. I've heard Spiderman 2 can be cringe, but I haven't played it myself.

Its actually the stories in their games that push me away while the gameplay is usualy great.

If they would fouce less on the mass market cinematic experiences, I think it would be an improvement.
 
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