Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 was my first time recording an open world game. And also probably my last.
As a massive MCU fan I was extremely exited for this game. I pre-ordered and decided I was going to cover the game on my channel. In hindsight, I probably would have been better off just playing it in my own time, but that’s a lesson learned. See.. I am a procrastinator.
Approximately 2 years later I finally completed my play-through. The game really ramped up in the final third. Admittedly, this is not my best series. It does, however, witness my evolution from recording and editing everything on my PS4 console, to getting a proper microphone and capture card, and also upgrading from Microsoft Paint to Gimp for my thumbnails.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a short, free, prequel to Life is Strange 2.
I played Life is Strange before I started YouTubing. It is a prime example of a game that I wished I had recorded so I could have shared my thoughts and looked back on the experience. So when this popped up on the PS Store I had to give it a go.
I still haven’t gotten around to Life is Strange: Before the Storm or Life is Strange 2, but they are on the list. For now, this was a lovely little experience that I am glad I played.
What initially started as a Let’s Play unfortunately got abandoned.
This is a very important statement – I do not do horror. This game started out so well. I was so impressed by the detective sections and the puzzles. It felt so great to play. Then came the moment. A moment that scarred me to this very day. The game isn’t technically a horror but I felt like I couldn’t continue.
I do want to say that it is worth a watch. The game did so many things well. If it had continued how it started it probably would have been one of my favorite games. Instead, it was my first failed Let’s Play. In case you haven’t noticed.. I am a top class wimp. I still sometimes re-watch the end of my play-through, just for shits and giggles.
Detroit: Become Human was the first brand new game that I did a Let’s Play of.. and it did not disappoint. Developed by Quantic Dream, I missed the era of Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, so I could not have been more excited for this one.
I get very immersed in story games and went all in. They weren’t lying when they said choices matter. It was such a fun game and I recommend to everyone to play it yourself before watching a play-through.. have your own experience first.
This game was.. an experience. Being a huge fan of Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, playing Quantic Dreams previous title felt like a no brainer.
Although I have played the full game and watched a fair bit back, I am not entirely sure I could tell you what it is about. It starts great and descends into.. well.. you’ll see.
If you are looking for other content about this game I highly recommend the Watch out for Fireballs podcast episode. It gave me lots of laughs. Listen to the Episode here!
My third Let’s Play and my longest to date! Not my first ever visual novel but my first in a very long time.
My blind play-through of The Nonary Games:999 is probably my most watched series to date. I am so pleased with how it went, especially the order that I got my endings. It was such a great experience, Virtues Last Reward is definitely going to be my next long series.
This was my second Let’s Play, and to be honest my first proper attempt at playing a shooter that isn’t Grand Theft Auto. I think I did okay, considering!
This is my blind play-through of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. When I decided to play the game I had no idea that it takes the turn it does in the second third of the game. Still traumatised.
My first ever Let’s Play, back when I recorded and edited everything on the PS4 console and made my thumbnails on Microsoft Paint!
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a Walking Simulator set in the fictional British village of Yaughton. Wandering around, we get to know the residents and start to unravel the mysteries of what went down in this town.
Reminder – If you are a PS Plus member, remember to add the games to your library each month, you don’t HAVE to download them. Even if you don’t think you’ll ever play it, it is worth having in your library just in case. You never know what is going to take you by surprise!
On my quest to play all sorts of different games, I have decided it would be fun to go back and play through my library of PS Plus games that I have never even looked at. I am (eventually) going to go through each month, from most to least recent, trying out these games and having my say about each one. I do hope this can be helpful to someone but if not, at least I’m finally trying these games!
P.S. I am only going to go through the PS4 games for now. Between my huge backlog and my slow old console, I’ve decided that will be best. Since I am not yet playing the PS3/Vita titles, I am going to write a quick summary from the info I find from my friend Google, just for my own future benefit/anyone curious about the full months line-up!
PS4 – Stories: The Path of Destinies
Stories: The Path of Destinies is an ARPG, choose-your-own-story game with a twist, developed by Spearhead Games. You control Reynardo, a rebel fox. In the war with the ravens, we try our best to figure out a way to win, only it isn’t always that easy. Each chapter you are given options as to where to go next, and with over 20 endings, the possibilities are almost endless. I personally do not enjoy the ARPG genre as combat is never my favourite part of a game. While playing, I roll my eyes when the enemies so obviously pop up whenever you enter an empty space. But yet I keep playing. And I am going to keep playing.
The story is funny and charming and the way this story is told is awesome. If there was more to do other than just combat I would be singing this game so many praises. Even so, the chapters are fairly short so it is easy enough to deal with. Thankfully, this won’t be an issue for most people anyway because when gaming you expect combat, it is just a personal opinion that I found the combat annoying and slightly boring. The overall concept of the game is amazing. If your curious, you must at least do one play-through. It will only take you 1 or 2 hours and since that is only the beginning of the game, most people will probably come back for more. And they should. It’s great.
PS4 – Invisible Inc.
Invisible Inc. is an intense turn-based spy game developed by Klei Entertainment. If you are into strategy then I think you will love this game. It’s funny because I had just been thinking about how long it’s been since I played a great turn based strategy game (see Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops below) and then suddenly I’m playing one. And I think it is a great one. I have only played the tutorial and the first mission and my heart is on edge. I think it is such a clever game, not only do you have to decide how to best use your own turn, you have to prepare yourself and anticipate what the enemies are going to do. Should you hide? Should you attack? Should you run and risk it?
Thankfully there are many different difficulty levels and beginner is a very forgiving way to ease you into the game while still making you feel like your jumping straight in. Then, I bet that the harder difficulties will give you an immense and even more intense challenge. If you are fancying a game like this then I seriously recommend it. Not only is it a fun example of the genre, it feels very well thought out and has more depth than I would have expected. Very fun game for sure. I also enjoy the music. Take the music from The Wolf Among Us and speed it up into a tense spy thriller tune. It’s awesome.
PS4/PS3 – Hyper Void
Hyper Void is an arcade space shooter developed by InFramez Technology. The game plays around with depth perception and warps around to give you a more exciting experience. This isn’t a game that I would ever personally choose to play and doesn’t seem to have much depth to it at all but it will be fun for anyone who enjoys a fast paced, shoot-everything-out-of-your way, worm-holey kind of game in a trippy, 3D, space environment.
PS4/PS3/Vita – Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops
Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops is a charming little twin stick shooter developed by Plunge Interactive. The cute 3D graphics and different objectives set this game aside from other twin stick shooters I have played. Admittedly, this isn’t my genre, but I played this one longer than I did any of the others. Your characters have names and progress throughout the missions, and if they die they are gone and you get replacements. You can buy weapon and character upgrades for the numerous missions such as defeat the enemies, destroy their buildings, protect the people and survive. Although the game plays nothing like it, I was getting serious nostalgia from the ever so slight ‘Worms 4: Mayhem’ vibes I was getting. Instead of wanting to carry on playing however, it made me seriously wonder whether we will ever get a remaster of that gem. To sum up, this is a nice little twin stick shooter.
PS4/Vita – Colour Guardians
Colour Guardians is a game developed by Fair Play Labs. I am pretty sure this game is in its own Genre but I cannot figure out what it would be called. You know those games where the character runs along at a constant speed, and there are three paths that you can switch between. Usually there are collectables and traps on these paths, forcing you to calculate your movements to dodge and weave and grab everything you can? I have definitely tried numerous other games of the sort but I couldn’t name one. Well Colour Guardians is just like that. Personally, it is not for me at all. I find these games quite boring, but I can see the appeal of mastering them. I can definitely see how this game could end up being really tricky on the higher levels and would serve well to pass sometime on the Vita while commuting, but other than that I would never pick it up. If you do enjoy the genre though then it would be a nice addition to your collection. It has its own flavour, the graphics are nice and it will keep you playing for a while.
Vita – VVVVV
VVVVV is an indie, 2D, side-scrolling platformer developed by Terry Cavanagh. All I can really say about this one is that I am not too sad to be missing it as it is not my kind of game at all. It has decent reviews if you are into that type of game but that is all I really can say since I don’t own a Vita.
Summary – Five games for the PS4 for the third time so far. I do understand people that are wanting fewer bigger games that they can really get into rather than five potentially hit or miss games. It would be very lucky for someone to like them all. But I think that’s the point, there is a little something for everyone. I’m not saying that loads of smaller games is always the best option, but I do think this month had a great variety. Sure, I didn’t like them all but I did discover some games that I really like and definitely would have never bought. I suppose that is the nature of PS Plus isn’t it, every game is not going to suit everyone and what is a great month for one is a crap month for another. I’m beginning to appreciate that you can’t please everyone.
Reminder – If you are a PS Plus member, remember to add the games to your library each month, you don’t HAVE to download them. Even if you don’t think you’ll ever play it, it is worth having in your library just in case. You never know what is going to take you by surprise!
On my quest to play all sorts of different games, I have decided it would be fun to go back and play through my library of PS Plus games that I have never even looked at. I am (eventually) going to go through each month, from most to least recent, trying out these games and having my say about each one. I do hope this can be helpful to someone but if not, at least I’m finally trying these games!
P.S. I am only going to go through the PS4 games for now. Between my huge backlog and my slow old console, I’ve decided that will be best. Since I am not yet playing the PS3/Vita titles, I am going to write a quick summary from the info I find from my friend Google, just for my own future benefit/anyone curious about the full months line-up!
PS4 – This War of Mine: The Little Ones
This War of Mine: The Little Ones is a side-scrolling, survival, base-building game, developed by 11 Bit Studios. There is a civil war going on and you control a group of survivors. By day you can craft in your base to provide the bare necessities of survival, then by night you choose who sleeps, who guards, and who goes out to scavenge. I had already heard of the game, and the whole survival and base building concept piqued my interest. One of the reasons that I have never bought it though is because it puts me off, the thought of putting hours into the game then having everyone die because I’m crap at resource management.
Upon beginning my game, I was surprised by how much I felt it had to offer. The not only are the graphics unique and ambient, the whole atmosphere of the game is one of desperation, sadness and gloom. They really hit that nail on the head. Trouble is, it’s borderline depressing. I know I am going to have to be in the right mood to play this game. That is still a good thing though, I feel it is important to sometimes open ourselves up to these things, and as shit as it is to see our characters starving and sick, when we see them healing and content, it is a nice feeling. I know the characters aren’t real and they don’t have much personality to get attached too, but it’s more what they represent to me. And we could all do with learning the lesson of ‘Appreciate the little things’.
Now, as far as game play, the game really really could have used a tutorial. It took me a google search to figure out how to use the stairs, then I accidentally sent a trader away while trying to talk to him. I have done a trial play-through and one of my characters died, but she got killed so quickly that I still have no idea how the combat works. I stopped after that because my other characters were starving and I wanted to start afresh now that I have a better idea of how to approach resource management. If any of this sounds appealing to you or if you are in the mood for something heavy, or something even potentially eye opening, then I suggest checking it out. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet and I will be restarting to make better choices next time.
PS4/PS3/Vita – The Swindle
The Swindle is a stealth 2D platformer developed by Size Five Games. It also has a very minor resource management/skill tree element to it in which you will need to make decisions, so I would say it also falls into the category of strategy. It is set in London in the 1800’s. The concept is simple. You are a master burglar. Scotland are going to release an AI that will thwart your career and you have 100 days to stop them.
Each day takes the form of a new heist, whether you are successful or not is another matter. While performing the heist, if you get seen once then that alerts everyone. Then the second time you are caught. You can also die from falling from great heights or landing on spikes. You will then get a new burglar to take over. The aim of the heists is to earn as much money as possible. You can then return to your ship and buy upgrades, whether they are tools, abilities or security passes for more upmarket areas, providing higher rewards and higher risks. It is up to you how you spend your earnings and your 100 days. This isn’t a great game for me as I don’t enjoy stealth and I don’t enjoy 2D platformers, but I really do love the concept. I played 8 days and I think I earned around £2000, but then I came off it as I don’t really have the patience. I do think this is an enjoyable little game, especially, I imagine, for Vita. One thing I will say is that I could have used a tutorial since it gets a little annoying having to pause and find the controls.
PS4/Vita – Day of the Tentacle Remastered
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is a point and click adventure developed by Lucas Arts. Purple Tentacle is on the path to world domination and it is up to us to stop him. DotT is considered to be a classic in the genre and I personally had fun with it as my first console point and click. The whole style is fun, from the music, to the humour, to the artwork. There is actually the option to play the original version rather than the remaster, all you have to do is press a button. There is also the full version of DotT’s predecessor, Maniac Mansion, available to play in game.
For anyone that doesn’t know, the idea is to explore and collect items to solve puzzles. That sounds easy but I have got to admit, I ended up using a walk-through. I did everything I could think of but some in some cases I just could not figure it out. Every time I used the walk-through I was pleased I did because I would never have thought of the answer, so don’t worry if you do need to use it. But don’t use the walk-through from the get go. I was surprised at just how far I got without it. This isn’t a long game – I suppose it just depends how long it takes you to figure everything out – but I do recommend only starting it when you intend to commit to it. I did the intro then left it for a couple of weeks. When I came back to it I had forgotten what to do, I was only pleased I was at the beginning because it would suck to forget where you were half way through. I would think most people can finish this in 2-3 sittings, including the platinum, which is pretty easy (I got my 8th platinum, woohoo!). FYI if you are going for the platinum, don’t skip the cut-scenes. I think I would have loved the game a lot more if it wasn’t for one running joke, which – as much as I hate to be a party pooper – left a bad taste for me. But other than that, I enjoyed it and I am really looking forward to dabbling more into the genre.
PS4/Vita – Titan Souls
Titan Souls is what I would like to call a top-down boss fighter game.. developed by Acid Nerve. With only the ability to roll, run and shoot an arrow, rooms of bosses await. I can tell you straight away that this game was not made with people like me in mind. My favourite part of a game is the story, and my least favourite is.. can you guess? The boss fights. So I think I am the opposite of the target audience. I don’t enjoy getting constantly one shotted and I don’t enjoy constantly missing my target
Having said that, I think the style of this game is lovely and the music between bosses is beautiful. It’s not that the controls suck, but it sucks having one arrow then having to retrieve it every time you inevitably miss, while also being chased by whatever beast you are facing. But I do understand why it is that way. I managed to stick around for long enough to defeat my first boss and the feeling of little you, triumphing against the odds is a good feeling. But in order to get that you have to have the patience to keep going, and sadly, I am the opposite of patient. If you enjoy a challenge and enjoy games that are soley about boss battles then go for it, please. If I am not mistaken, this game prides itself on being difficult.
PS4/Vita – Azkend 2: The World Beneath
Azkend 2: The World Beneath is a match-3 game developed by 10tons Ltd. If you enjoy mobile games but without the microtransactions then you will probably enjoy this one. It’s pretty much like most other versions of these games, with different types of rounds, challenges and bonuses. As much as I thought I would want this on my console, I definitely think these games are better on the move, where you can jump in for 10 minutes if that’s all you have and finish a couple of rounds. On console however, it just feels a bit bland. The controls don’t seem to transfer well either, I think it would work a lot better with a touch screen or a mouse. This is just my opinion though. The artwork and music are both nice and if you easily get addicted to these games then you’ll enjoy it. It is certainly nice to get for free, but it is just a game I’d rather have on my phone that I could whack out when I am out somewhere and bored. It’s a time passer rather than a must play.
PS3 – Blazerush
Blazerush is an arcade, racing game developed by Targem Games. Reviews range from average to good, saying that while it is very fun, it lacks substance.
Summary – Five games to try, again, wow! To be honest, I liked this bunch a WHOLE lot better than February’s selection. With this group, I have completed one game, have another one I would like to complete, another that I might complete and the other two were genres that I would have never bought but was pleased to try. Probably one of the most successful months that I have had so far! And I got my first PS Plus Platinum! It was a good month for Vita players too since four of these games are crossbuys!
CtrlAltNoob 