Which format has had the best games this generation?

[AI]

Astro Bot VR wants a word.

[JPL]

I’ve gone PS4, even though the best game of the generation has been Zelda.

 

Outside of that though, I’ve only played Odyssey and Kart on the Switch, so I’d say it’s probably the least used console I’ve ever owned.

[PikaStu]

Some of my favourite games this generation have been Microsoft related games that I’ve played on either my Xbone X or PC (thanks to Gamepass). 
 

Forza Horizon 3, Crackdown 3, Wasteland 3 and the two Ori games are all in my top 10 this generation. It’s been a good time to be a gamer thanks to Gamepass and the Xbone gets my vote. 

 

 

[Wiper]

On 10/10/2020 at 11:44, Benny said:

What a load of bollocks.

 

Eh, I pretty much agree with Broker there, albeit I still think it's been a great generation because I don't really care that AAA games (have some industry types started talking about AAAA now as well? Probably; whatever, for AAA please assume 'maximum budget games') are even more homogeneous and less exciting than ever before, when I consider how damn good the output has been at every other point of the scale. Plus, it's kind of inevitable, given the budgets required to sustain them - they need a guaranteed return, and that means reliable formulae! I continue to ignore them in much the same way as I've ignored Call of Duty for three generations.

 

It has felt a bit odd being in the first generation where the design of blockbuster games almost entirely follows the pattern the previous generation's blockbuster's, admittedly, but so it goes.

 

But my word, the world of indie games,* of mid-budget PC and VR games. It's been a damned good time in those spaces. From Undertale to the definitive version of Rez. Paratopic to Streets of Rage 4. Shadow Tactics** to Paper Beast.*** Divinity: Original Sin 2 to Hades. Battletech to Stellaris. Assault Android Cactus to Paradise Killer. Hollow Knight to Her Story. Dungeons of the Endless to Astro Bot. So fucking many great games.

 

Fuck, Nintendo even managed to put out the first genuinely great Zelda game, we had the first great Ace Combat since the PS2 era, and From made two Soulslike games that weren't incredibly tedious! What an astonishing generation.

 

In the end, PC scrapes it for me. The Switch offers the best way to play some indie games, and has some decent Nintendo games to boot. PS4 has some great PSVR exclusives, and Bloodborne I guess. Xbox One is the best way to play Panzer Dragoon Orta. But the sheer range and quality of games on PC - the deluge of incredible indie games, the resurgence of RPGs and strategy games based around cursor-control - they guarantee it top billing for me. It's such an exciting platform to be involved with!

 

 

Edit: I somehow missed Celeste, Tetris Effect and Wipeout VR from the list above! I mean, I missed a lot of great games, but I can't justify leaving those out.

 

(also not entirely sure why I'm getting empathied - as per all of the above, I've genuinely enjoyed this generation! Like, a lot! I don't need to be felt sorry for just because I largely found the blockbusters uninteresting, any more than I should feel sorry for anyone who couldn't stand all that indie shite, but really enjoyed Spider-Man: Assassin's Cry Redemption 2 - Zero Dawn; God of Us 2: Jedi Gears of A Thief's End; or Player Unknown's Apex Nite. If you've had a good time, you've had a good time!)

 

 

* which, delightfully, I get to technically include Hitman 2 in the list of

** the Commandos-like has returned! And is genuinely better than ever! Amazing!

*** and Eric Chahi's back with a gorgeous alien world to explore! Fuck me.

[SeanR]

On 11/10/2020 at 15:47, Kevvy Metal said:

Easily PS4, and likely the best console I’ve ever owned. Switch is a strong second. 

you never owned a Dreamcast?

[Kevvy Metal]

8 hours ago, SeanR said:

you never owned a Dreamcast?

 

I still own one. A modded one with a Terraonion MODE, HDD with every game ever made for the machine on it. 

It's a wonderful console but merely an hor d'oeuvre in comparison with the PlayStation 4 and it's immense catalog. 

 

Actually, even if the PS5 just played PS4 games, but silently it automatically supersedes it as the best console ever.  

[Raoull duke]

Switch. 

 

I've only played botw but it was that good.

 

PS4 had loads of great games but none of them in same league as botw. 

 

PC doesn't really have exculsives anymore.

 

And the xbone just sucks all the way around. 

[Broker]

5 hours ago, Raoull duke said:

Switch. 

 

I've only played botw but it was that good.

 

PS4 had loads of great games but none of them in same league as botw.

Bloodborne

[GamesGamesGames]

Has to be PC. Weight of numbers and relative price, plus it's the only Noita platform thus far.

 

PS4 has a fantastic catalogue though, and it's hard to understate the value of Bloodborne.

[Raoull duke]

On 15/10/2020 at 22:25, Broker said:

Bloodborne

I loved Bloodborne. But no. 

[squirtle]

44 minutes ago, Raoull duke said:

I loved Bloodborne. But no. 

Ya see, I thought that before May. But now... I've put more hours into Bloodborne this summer than any game in years and I do think it is now my game of the generation and I fucking love Breath of the Wild. That isn't to say I would vote for the PS4 here as none of the other exclusives really grabbed my interest enough to finish them. 

[Broker]

2 hours ago, Raoull duke said:

I loved Bloodborne. But no. 

I love Breath of the Wild, but there are areas where it’s not great, primarily the story but also there’s bits of filler that feel like they’d decided on x number of shrines or Korok seeds and some of them are shite. Bloodborne not only has no weak areas, but it’s a much more unified whole of a game, with every element feeding to others and improving them. If it had Dark Souls’ level of world design I think it would be perfect.

[wretcherd]

Hang on, Wii U was the Nintendo console that came out the same generation as PS4 and Xbox One.

Switch just has a 3 ½ year head start on PS5 and Xbox Serieses.

[Shimmyhill]

Quote

Which format has had the best games this generation?

Well it’s the Switch isn’t it, by a mile.

 

Ivs used my PS4 the most this generation by a mile but as much as I liked GoW & TLOU2 it’s been more my Battkefield, Destiny, COD, Fortnite machine of choice that’s led to the most time spent on it - BOTW is in a different league to anything I’ve ever played, I’d argue Ori is a better game than any Sony exclusive this gen....

[Raoull duke]

2 hours ago, Broker said:

I love Breath of the Wild, but there are areas where it’s not great, primarily the story but also there’s bits of filler that feel like they’d decided on x number of shrines or Korok seeds and some of them are shite. Bloodborne not only has no weak areas, but it’s a much more unified whole of a game, with every element feeding to others and improving them. If it had Dark Souls’ level of world design I think it would be perfect.

 

Yeah botw wasn't perfect but I put like three hundred hours into it and it was just a delight from start to finish. Big mad smile on my face the whole time. 

 

And the sense of freedom in it is pretty much unrivaled. The joy of being presented with a problem and being able to figure out a solution to it yourself and have it work rather than having to do some specific trigger to get past it. Magic. 

 

It was also just great for all mad intangible hard to describe shit. Like the "feel" of it. I don't mean emotionally I mean like it had some weird almost tactile effect from synergy between the controls and the display and the sound. I can't even really describe it properly. I think it's like what people who are into ASMR videos feel. 

The only other game I've ever got it from was Journey. But botw done it better. 

 

 

[Qazimod]

2 hours ago, wretcherd said:

Hang on, Wii U was the Nintendo console that came out the same generation as PS4 and Xbox One.

Switch just has a 3 ½ year head start on PS5 and Xbox Serieses.

 

The generations are Wii/PS3/360 -> Switch/PS4/XB1; I don't know what this "Wii U" thing is  Kidding aside, I agree, and Switch will probably be as relevant (if not moreso) when the other new-gen systems are released.