Last Generation Curiosities That Are Worth A Look Now

I'm lucky enough to have both a PS3 and a PS4 at home, and - increasingly - I've found myself spending almost as much time and money exploring the wilder shores of the 3's back catalogue as buying new releases for the 4.

In recent months, I've bought Sleeping Dogs (in truth, a PSN freebie), Binary Domain, and Nier. And I'm also considering adding Vanquish and Too Human to the growing pile.

These are all games that I considered and dismissed at the time of release, but references to them in the Conference Call or full-blown explorations in Cane and Rinse have encouraged me to reconsider. (The fact that they're all much, much cheaper now helps too.)

So my questions are:

1 - Are any other GWJers diving into the last gen bargain-bin?
2 - Which games are they pulling out?
3 - Do they have any recommendations for me for other curiositiesand oddities on the 3?

EDIT 2: To clarify: In terms of recommendations, I'm guess I'm thinking of games with good pedigrees (e.g. developer) that offer something of a fresh take on their genre, and that were solid... but not quite good enough to generate the kinds of sales that create franchises.

From what I understand 'Vanquish' meets this definition.

EDIT 1: Just bought 'Vanquish'.

Playstation Now has a free 7 day trial. (I'm really tempted to dive in. It would be a no brainer if they supported Destiny) I also want to know why Xbox does not have a similar service...
You might want to look into that rather than mulling over which one to buy.

If you're doing Vanquish, may as well get your Platinum on right, and do Bayonetta too.

If you missed it before, Burnout Paradise is a great last-gen game that's had a rather large influence on racing games in the last 6-7 years. None I've tried since have managed to live up to it.

The Darkness was a game I played while waiting for BioShock to come out, and ended up enjoying to more. I suspect it's janky to go back to now, but it had a great story and some interesting powers to play with. It had a sequel which was fun enough to play through but didn't light the world on fire.

fangblackbone wrote:

Playstation Now has a free 7 day trial. (I'm really tempted to dive in. It would be a no brainer if they supported Destiny) I also want to know why Xbox does not have a similar service...
You might want to look into that rather than mulling over which one to buy.

I keep wavering on that 7 day free trial. If they ever add the Fatal Frame series I'll jump on it.

Thanks for the swift responses.

If 'Burnout Paradise' is Logitech Driving Force GT compatible, then I may well recover it on my next dive. I have watched the Burnout series from afar for a long time, but never been able to bring myself to try it. I'm slightly leery about the price on Amazon; £15 feels a touch steep for a now-elderly entry in the driving game series.

'The Darkness' is an intriguing suggestion. I remember following it in the magazines at the time, but being unimpressed by the Edge review. The only things holding me back are:

- the price (there's a theme here). Amazon's currently showing 1 copy available for £21, which feels like a lot for a 10 year old game.
- the potential jank that you mentioned, Beanman101283. 2007 was a strange year for graphical quality. 'Modern Warfare' still holds up, I think, but 'Bioshock' really doesn't. I'll have to investigate further to see which category it falls in to.

EDIT: I actually bought Bayonetta when it came out, but I gave up on it on the first level. My brain and reflex just can't DO combo-heavy fighting games or games like them. I end up button-mashing. IIRC, I gave the game away the following day.

If it isn't clear from my posts, I'm that annoying combination of snobby and tight when it comes to the 'bin. I want my games new... but cheap. I accept that I'm going to have to pick a side here...

I'd be curious how it feels playing Burnout Paradise with a wheel, especially when doing stunts. I can't imagine doing barrel rolls without a controller, but that's just me.

detroit20 wrote:

Beanman101283. 2007 was a strange year for graphical quality. 'Modern Warfare' still holds up, I think, but 'Bioshock' really doesn't. I'll have to investigate further to see which category it falls in to.

If it isn't clear from my posts, I'm that annoying combination of snobby and tight when it comes to the 'bin. I want my games new... but cheap. I accept that I'm going to have to pick a side here...

I think it's interesting how personal perceptions enter into things like this. I've completed both Bioshock and COD1/Modern Warfare's campaign. I would say both have aged visually. I still prefer Bioshock's aesthetic look. Probably comes down to how much you love online multiplayer, I suppose. I don't and tend to lean the other way.

detroit20 wrote:

EDIT: I actually bought Bayonetta when it came out, but I gave up on it on the first level. My brain and reflex just can't DO combo-heavy fighting games or games like them. I end up button-mashing. IIRC, I gave the game away the following day.

Oof - you're in for a tough time with Vanquish then.

Jonman wrote:
detroit20 wrote:

EDIT: I actually bought Bayonetta when it came out, but I gave up on it on the first level. My brain and reflex just can't DO combo-heavy fighting games or games like them. I end up button-mashing. IIRC, I gave the game away the following day.

Oof - you're in for a tough time with Vanquish then.

Ah!

I had understood that Vanquish was mainly a fast-paced 3rd person action shooter, rather than a fighting, combo-based game. I'm fine with the fast, and I'm fine with learning button-triggered actions. What I struggle with is the extra layer of complexity of multiple input triggering different combos (Street Fighter style).

If my understanding is incorrect then it's possible that in 10 days there will be a copy of 'Vanquish' on sale for a mere £17.95 (not including postage).

Also, The Darkness wasn't much of a looker even when it came out. The jankiness I as referring to was more to do with the controls, as I vaguely recall the sensitivity was weird when looking around, as well as how you trigger your abilities. It's been years since I last played it though, so I don't really remember the specifics.

detroit20 wrote:

I had understood that Vanquish was mainly a fast-paced 3rd person action shooter, rather than a fighting, combo-based game. I'm fine with the fast, and I'm fine with learning button-triggered actions. What I struggle with is the extra layer of complexity of multiple input triggering different combos (Street Fighter style).

If my understanding is incorrect then it's possible that in 10 days there will be a copy of 'Vanquish' on sale for a mere £17.95 (not including postage).

Vanquish feels to me like a 3D action shooter that's so fast paced that the actions you're chaining together without pausing to breathe makes it feel like you're executing combos.

It's definitely a very different game from Bayonetta, but both feature blisteringly fast action sections, and that felt like a common thread that runs between them. The flow of each game felt similar, even if the fine detail of what you're doing in that flow was different.

Which is to say, I played both games constantly muttering under my breath "f*ckf*cksh*tsh*tohgodahhhhh".

Perversely, the fact that this The Darkness is a bit homely, with dodgy controls and an unjustifiably high price has pushed it into deeper into the curiosity category and made it more attractive to me.

My cursor is hovering over the buy button. Only the mental image of my partner's furrowed brow when she see's my even larger pile of old, expensive and unplayed games is holding me back. Currently, I've got 'Borderlands 2', 'Metal Gear Solid Collection' (which is three games, of course), and 'Binary Domain' sitting in their wrappers at home, and now 'Nier' and 'Vanquish' are about to join them. 'The Darkness' might be the final straw.

I'm going to have to spread these purchase out.

Howabout 3D Dot Game Heroes?

Smaller exclusive games on PS3 that I really loved: Echochrome, rain, Sound Shapes (also on Vita)

As far as bigger games go that may or may not be exclusive to PS3: Resonance of Fate is another great and unique JRPG I didn't see mentioned. After putting 30-40 hours into Persona 5, I'm pretty sure Catherine is a way better game. Dead Space, while not exclusive is one I played on PS3, and it should hold up very well.

Good job getting Vanquish and NieR. Those are two great ones.

Edit: Added in some trailers.

Catherine is a great choice, one of my favorite games. I don't know if I can objectively say it's a way better game than P5. It's such a different animal I don't think there is enough to draw comparisons. One could just as easily hate the action puzzles in Catherine as much as I enjoyed them.

imbiginjapan wrote:

Catherine is a great choice, one of my favorite games. I don't know if I can objectively say it's a way better game than P5. It's such a different animal I don't think there is enough to draw comparisons. One could just as easily hate the action puzzles in Catherine as much as I enjoyed them.

The hot take thread has been bad for me. Now I just want to slip those in everywhere.

If you haven't checked them out, the Infamous franchise is pretty solid. There's also an Early PS3 game called Folklore that I loved that went under the radar. Dark Sector is another that was mostly bargain bin but I enjoyed it. Also if you want to see what From Software was doing before Demon Souls became a hit and took over studio you should check out Armored Core 4.

I could probably go on but I'll stop there for now.

FYI, there is a PS4 remastered version of Sleeping Dogs that includes all the DLC integrated in a logical way.

The Dead Space franchise holds up great. Resonance Of Fate remains a criminally underrated RPG because of its imposing learning curve, if you're into learning complex systems.

Based on your tastes, I think you need to give Spec Ops: The Line a shot. Mechanically, it's an average shooter; but the storyline comments on the genre in a way that very few games do. It's not too long, but it is a little on the difficult side. (Fortunately, it has selectable difficulty levels.)

Mostly, I have to admit, I've drunk the last-gen well pretty dry; so I'm not dipping back into it too often. I'm not disappointed when I go back, though. There's a huge library there.

Oh Spec Ops is a good suggestion. It definitely has some aggravating difficulty spikes, but the narrative is interesting.

Have you played Thatgamecompany's flOw, Flower, and Journey?

I also recommend Catherine, also if you like Nier try out Drakengard 3.

Rayman Origins and Legends are quite easy to obtain on the current gen, but are underappreciated gems.

Speaking of last gen, does anyone remember 1v100 on Xbox Live? Me and my housemates at Uni used to love playing that, I actually got to be the 1 once, it was great.

I can think of a few games that I loved but didn't seem to hit the mainstream

Majin and the forsaken kingdom great puzzle adventure game with loads if charm

Shadows of the Damned a suda51 game. Its juvenile, ridiculous, and over the top, but real fun and goes for it 100%

Alpha Protocol a mass effect style game Gameplay in a real world spy world setting. Full of jank but one of the best uses of dialogue choices. Decisions have real gameplay and story effects.

Singularity like a 2nd tier bioshock, but solid.

Enslaved: odyssey to the west looks slick, tight story, doesn't go on too long

Some great suggestions here.

As for games that hold up, I would add: any of the Ratchet & Clank games -- shootering, platformering and explorering!

If you want strategy, try Civilization: Revolution - it's mini Civ ... cheerful and quicker, but still feels deep.

Thank you all for taking the time to offer suggestions on what I'm calling "PS3's greatest misses'. I need to draw up a monthly purchase schedule now.

I'm actually a pleasantly surprised at how many of these games I've actually played. I thought I'd been caught in a bit of a Triple A rut in recent years, but my tastes are broader than I thought. Flower, Journey, Dead Space, Enslaved, and Spec Ops have all spent time in my disc tray though I must confess to not finishing any of the last four. I'll have to give them another go.

To expand the discussion a bit, were there any greatest misses that were Xbox 360 exclusive?

Bah! There's no thread for Crysis 2 (which itself tells a story), so this is probably the next best place to post about the game.

Looking at the chapter listings on the IGN walkthrough, it appears that I'm about one-third of the way through. I will probably finish, though it will be in spite of the game rather than because of it.

I dimly remember the hype at the time (2011) revolving around the graphical demands of the game, which makes sense because I don't think I've played a more 'by the numbers' shooter in a very long time.Every mission is "go here collect this" or "go there and perform that action", but with no disguise or craft whatsoever. It's like Modern Warfare (All Ghillied Up, Death From Above) never happened.

The world certainly looks lovely, but feels empty because there is nowhere to go. The only places to explore are the areas that the game requires you to visit. I can't help comparing it unfavourably with Dishonored, which was released only a year later and allowed much more exploration.

In addition, the exo-suit's powers also compare poorly with the tools in Dishonored. Cloak until you'rE inevitably discovered by one of the enemies that you failed to mark (BECAUSE THE GAME REFUSED TO LET YOU), then Armour Up during the ensuing fire fight. Rinse. And repeat.

And to think that I bought Crysis 3 at the same time...