PS3 appreciation thread

[strider]

I'm pretty sure we've not got one of these yet, so let's go.

I've been binging PS3 games lately as they're slowly starting to go up in price and there's certain ones I want to grab before they start getting to silly money.

 

I've recently completed God Of War 1 & 2 via the excellent HD remake and just finished God Of War III, but it's pretty terrible in comparison.

I've also been grabbing games like Rain before they're lost forever on the PSN store and trying to restore my locked US account (but without much success so far).

 

A lot of my purchase decisions have been influenced by John Linneman's recent 1080p series on the system and I'm trying to currently source a cheap copy of Strider as it was only released in Japan.

 

Anyone else have much love for the system and what games do you enjoy?

 

[Vimster]

I have my PS3 hooked up at the moment. Have been picking some bits up as things are still pretty cheap for the most part. Recently bought a job lot of Resistance 1, 2 and 3 plus Killzone 2 and 3 for £15 delivered. I do have the Killzone trilogy which is one of those going up in price, although Killzone 1 is a download, not sure how long that'll be useful. 

 

Actually there are some good compilations worth picking up including MGS HD Collection, Prince Of Persia Collection, Journey Collection (Journey, Flower and Flow), although I hear the Silent Hill Collection is a bit poor. 

 

Watching those DF PS3 1080p retrospective videos did inspire me to have a look at some other games, and they were generally nostalgic anyway, although I didn't pick my Superslim model up until 2013 by which point the PS4 was well on the way. 

 

I did buy a Slim PS3 off here recently but need to replace the drive in it. It's a lovely model, 120gb Japanese one with CFW on it. 

[phillv85]

I bought the PS3 shortly after release but never really got into it in the early days. I got that Genji: Days of the Blade which was fucking shite and Resistance: Fall of Man which was alright with it. I was convinced to buy a 360 by workmates and didn't look back for a good few years.

It was only later on when Yakuza 4 was released I bought that on a whim and it started me on the road to the Yakuza series which I hammered. There were also a few later import releases I got like Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara and Initial D Extreme Stage. I'm not really into JRPG's so a lot of PS3 exclusives were lost on me. 

 

Other games I had a bit of fun with when I wasn't playing on the 360 were 3D Dot Game Heroes, that was an alright Zelda tribute. Twisted Metal which was a nice continuation of the series. Heavenly Sword was clunky as fuck but I enjoyed it. Starhawk was alright, but I seem to remember the hype being nuts around it then it dying off pretty quick after it was released. 

 

I still think of the PS3 as a bit of a misstep from Sony, but Microsoft ballsed it up even worse with the pre-launch Xbone bullshit which caused me to swap back over to Sony.

[Vimster]

I'd agree the PS3 isn't a classic, and compared to the mighty PS2 it doesn't compare, but there's good stuff there for sure.

[Paulando]

I still love the original Motorstorm. Nothing in the same vein has come close tbh. It was super exciting, kept you on the edge of your seat, and one of those games that you don’t mind losing in because it’s so fun to play. Great soundtrack too: not my cup of tea, but fit the game perfectly and I was happy to go along with it.

[Vimster]

16 minutes ago, Paulando said:

I still love the original Motorstorm. Nothing in the same vein has come close tbh. It was super exciting, kept you on the edge of your seat, and one of those games that you don’t mind losing in because it’s so fun to play. Great soundtrack too: not my cup of tea, but for the game perfectly and I was happy to go along with it.

They're all good, Pacific Rift added some variety to the locations, Apocalypse was really impressive with the tracks going through collapsed buildings etc, although it's a shame it didn't have a normal menu system and went for a series of linear races divided by forgettable cutscenes. They don't make racers like that any more. 

[ox1973]

I'm still hanging on to my PS3 for now but it isn't hooked up at the moment. I agree that it isn't anywhere near the PS2 in terms or breadth and quality of games but there are some gems. Demon's Souls (no, I don't have a PS5), Dark Souls, Uncharted, Dead Space, XCOM, Yakuza, Persona, The Last of Us, Fallout 3/New Vegas. I put a lot of hours into these games.

 

I think what has diluted the PS3 legacy is that so many of the best games became available on other formats (PS4/PS5/PC) which means that it isn't as necessary to hold on to the system. Off the top of my head, from my list above it's only Yakuza: Dead Souls (not the best in the series but an interesting curiosity) that isn't available elsewhere.

[AK Bell]

I think PS3 is going to be looked at through rose tinted glasses soon, because the emulators are really coming along and will end up playing that generation better than 360 emulators and way better than the machine could. 

[shynra]

Hooked up my ps3 over lockdown, completed gundam dynasty warriors reborn (ps3 exclusive)

 

I tried to complete Asuaras Wrath... Got to the final level and gave up, wasn't a fan of the story and gameplay was boring too so just stopped. I should have started Marjin and the forsaken kingdom another game on my to play list! 

 

If you have a "wonder book" "Diggs Night crawler " seemed good I played it for about an hour. 

[Jei]

After I sold my PS5 I hooked up my PS3 to get through some of my pile of shame.

 

FFXIII was the first (yes I know not many people like it) and I was honestly shocked that firstly, it didn’t need a lengthy installation and secondly there wasn’t any form of patch available for it!

 

Both of which are reasons why ‘modern gaming’ has become so much of an issue for me as I don’t get time to play often being a single parent and it used to get me down putting a game in to find it took circa 30 minutes to install+update. 
 

I just don’t understand why so many games are half baked not tested these days.

 

So yes! I’m currently revisiting too and enjoying it!

[ScouserInExile]

Given that this was my main gaming machine for the entirety of the PS360 generation, I started to post a reply to this. What I realized was that I bought it for the Gran Turismo games, which I found massively disappointing, to the point where I barely played 6, and I'm now struggling to think if anything else I played on it. I must have played a load of stuff on it, it was my only "current" console for years, but I've looked at the Wikipedia list of anything that sold over a million on it and there's nothing there. I guess I didn't play any exclusives on it and just played the "casual" stuff. 

 

I softmodded it recently and realised there wasn't really anything I wanted to install on it. Unlike my modded 360, which is chock full of XBLA games.

 

Essentially, it was a solid workhorse that gave me many, many happy gaming hours but, looking back, it was remarkably unremarkable.

[geldra]

It has Everybody’s Golf World Tour on it, which automatically makes it the best machine ever. 

[Gabe]

I picked up a launch console on holiday in the US (so it had the proper emulation hardware) but just never played it.

 

I still own it, and did eventually play the first Resistance (which I enjoyed), Heavenly Sword and Genji, but I think that's about it. It doesn't help that I've always hated PlayStation pads, either.

 

A very disappointing console in my eyes.

[ianinthefuture]

I worked on a PlayStation magazine during the PS3's pomp, so I am biased and paid for and all the rest of it. Shill. Fanboy? Sure.

 

Anyway, I also did a video not long ago about my bestest PS3 exclusives, and really there aren't that many, though probably largely because of re-releases and remasters making things not exclusive anymore - otherwise Uncharted 2, Journey, Demon's Souls etc etc would make the cut.

 

That said, I do still have much love for Tokyo Jungle, Resistance 3, Everybody's Golf: World Tour (@geldra is correct), Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, and oh fuck it here's the video link.

 

Also glad to see @strider agreeing with what I got mocked for saying back when I was on that very PlayStation magazine: God of War 3 really isn't a patch on the first two. That opinion spread around the Imagine office and I had people actually coming up to my desk to challenge me on it. Christ, working there was like living in a forum sometimes...

[Colonel Panic]

I loved the PS3 to the point where I even bought lots of 3rd party games for it when Digital Foundry posted damning write ups on them. 
 

I also enjoyed a lot of the exclusives. The Resistance trilogy was great. That said, I HATED Motorstorm and it’s shitty suicidal AI. 

[AK Bell]

I was mostly 360, but at the end of the generation I got a PS3 to get through all the exclusives and stream videos from my PC. PS+ really kicked off then and it became my primary console as by that point even the 3rd party multi-platform stuff was running pretty well on that crazy setup. 

 

But even then, none of the exclusives really stood out for me except for Ni No Kuni, but that's on loads of other platforms now so I wouldn't go back for it. I played some Uncharted and some Ratchet and Clank, but I couldn't tell you which ones. I tried the Souls games but I don't like it. Motorstorm was fine. Okami HD was exclusive for a fair while and looked stunning, but I already had that on PS2. 

 

As I say, despite early issues the multi-platform stuff worked pretty well on it in the end. PS3 is going to be remembered fondly on emulation running them even better (and on a 360 pad). Transformers: War for Cybertron was a highlight. I got GTAV for it when it was first released, but stupidly got the digital version that had popups because it didn't stream from the disc. I've been itching to play Prince of Persia: cel-shaded handheld, having to make do with streaming on PC. 

 

I worked on a fair few games on that generation too and looking forward to being able to play them without having to get a console out the attic. Unless it needs Move. Or Kinect. Which I don't have anyway. *sigh* 

[Darwock]

Warhawk wasn’t a thing on rllmuk? It was pretty popular on NTSC-uk, and along with MGS4 and Littlebigplanet really defined the early days of the system for me. Someone earlier mentioned Starhawk, which I presume was a mistake and they really meant Warhawk…

 

Then of course there’s Wipeout HD. Demon’s Souls. The PS3 gave these things to us.

[phillv85]

14 minutes ago, Darwock said:

Warhawk wasn’t a thing on rllmuk? It was pretty popular on NTSC-uk, and along with MGS4 and Littlebigplanet really defined the early days of the system for me. Someone earlier mentioned Starhawk, which I presume was a mistake and they really meant Warhawk…

 

Then of course there’s Wipeout HD. Demon’s Souls. The PS3 gave these things to us.

 

Starhawk was the spiritual successor. It was pretty hyped here around launch then turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Wasn't a bad game, just wasn't great.

[Colonel Panic]

I miss the menu music and animation from PS3 Wipeout HD. I played through the campaign recently via Omega Collection and it’s still great to play though.  
 

Based on the MGS3 play through thread in Discussion I’ve decided it’s due a replay and will prob go with the PS3 version. 

[earlymodernsteve]

Never owned a PS3 but borrowed a friend's one a couple of years back and played a few of the exclusives. Loved the Resistance and Killzone trilogies, despite them not having aged brilliantly. They just felt more complete single player experiences than so many FPS games nowadays. In terms of other exclusives I enjoyed Heavenly Sword but it's a very limited game; Folklore had a wonderful atmosphere but was too reliant on Wii-like waggle (which I'm more tolerant of than many); Lair was pretty much unplayable.

 

Aside from that brief experience I've played a few exclusives via PSNow (now Plus Premium). Rain is a nice little curio; Tokyo Jungle is great (and I need to get back into it actually); Magus needs to be played just to see how bad a game can actually be!; the Infamous games are great (with the vampire spin-off in particular working well). However, the quality of the streaming is pretty hit and miss so I've also set up PS3 emulation on PC and played through Drakengard 3, some of Demon's Souls (at 60fps before picking up a PS5) and revisited Lollipop Chainsaw (played it on 360).

 

I still can't really form a full opinion of the console, though. I guess that's partly due to not having one at the time, and most of my gaming time either hamstrung by streaming or unrealistically smooth from emulation. It definitely wasn't the totally inferior console it felt like compared to the 360 back in the day but the list of titles that are must-plays on it is pretty small. There is a real sense of it being a little lost in time due to the way that Sony have approached generations - 360 games are mostly just Xbox games still, but the PS3 is only just coming into its own in terms of emulation and can't be played natively on PS5.

 

tl;dr PS3 is alright with some decent games but they mostly play better on PC through emulation so not much of a need to buy physical

[strider]

3 hours ago, ianinthefuture said:

Also glad to see @strider agreeing with what I got mocked for saying back when I was on that very PlayStation magazine: God of War 3 really isn't a patch on the first two. That opinion spread around the Imagine office and I had people actually coming up to my desk to challenge me on it. Christ, working there was like living in a forum sometimes...

I got your back.

I’m playing all the games in a row and it’s just woeful. Graphics are dour and look like plastic, framerate is rough as assholes, the writing feels weak, the sex scenes feel crass, it’s got very few redeeming features. I did like some of the setpieces like Kronos but it feels a huge step back after just finishing God Of War W.

on Chains Of Olympus now and it’s much more fun.

[Colonel Panic]

That’s the one with a longish cutscene after a checkpoint but before the final boss, right?? 🤬🤬

[crisy]

I have a weird soft spot for the PS3.  Partly due no doubt to me owning one from release and it being pretty much my main console of that generation, and I agree it didn't have anywhere near as many good exclusives as previous PSs, not even a patch on them. But for some reason in my mind it feels like the last console of its kind, the last of the weird, idiosyncratic, hubristic, not really-focus tested consoles that were seemingly built entirely on the whims of some slightly mad person who is willing to throw hundreds of millions of yen to the wind. Isn't there some quote from Ken Kutaragi or someone saying the console had eight processors in it because the number eight is beautiful? Crackers! But I was there for it. Also, for all of its arrogance the original PS3 was actually backwards compatible with most of the prior PS library, which is something I value hugely in a console whereas nowadays it doesn't really happen anymore.
And the (original) was big and shiny and imposing and full of dumb swagger. There weren't that many great games on it I suppose, but that made me appreciate the occasional gems that did come along, they felt like big deals, Folklore, Heavenly Sword, Katamari Forever, even some random Gundam game in desperation, a reason to huddle around your ps3 and praise it for its supposedly god-like power. And it was god-like power that seemed to always promise more, its true depths, it was rumoured, would take years and maybe decades of painstaking study and alchemy for devs to tease out. Even though ultimately it didn't go on to become a truly great console I kept believing that it might, and that alone was exciting. 

I enjoyed letting it dominate my room and my imagination for quite a few years. PS4 came along, and I know it's an objectively better console with better games, but it didn't really mean anything to me if I'm honest, it was just a generic games machine to me, and I doubt any PS will ever grab me again the way the first three did. 

[electricmastro]

A match 3 puzzle game that I think was more popular back in the day, but is underappreaciated now

 

[Afternoon Delight]

A hidden 'gem', one might say

[Vimster]

And you appear to get the excellent Zuma with it. Okay it's a Puzzloop knockoff but this is Pop Cap we're talking about here.

[electricmastro]

54 minutes ago, Vimster said:

And you appear to get the excellent Zuma with it. Okay it's a Puzzloop knockoff but this is Pop Cap we're talking about here.

Yeah, Zuma is also recommended. Another Match 3 game where you shoot balls to make other balls disappear, though I think more people are familiar with such games like Sparkle these days.

 

And speaking of PopCap, this one is recommend for strategy enthusiasts.

 

[acidbearboy]

As mentioned, a lot of the best stuff (Ni No Kuni, Wipeout HD, Shadow of the Colossus) is available elsewhere now. I still keep a couple of exclusives for it, but it was never a main console for me. I still need to properly play Tokyo Jungle. There are also two Everybody’s Golf games - World Tour is the first one. I think the other is just called Everybody’s Golf and is only available to download in the UK. Then there is Ridge Racer 7 which is kind of exclusive. Ico HD which I understand is only available to stream on PS+. I have the lovely Japanese box set for Ico. The only curio I own is Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day but it’s been so long since I played it that I can’t really recall the gameplay!

[AlexM]

While I imported a Japanese launch console and I’m sure I played a fair number of games on it, my main memories are of using it as a (brilliant) Blu-Ray player.

 

I do have many fond memories of playing Calling All Cars with my friends & their kids though, one of the few games not available elsewhere. 

[SeanR]

13 hours ago, geldra said:

It has Everybody’s Golf World Tour on it, which automatically makes it the best machine ever. 

with dolphin cutscenes!