Topic: Sony giving away games for PS4 (and PS5)

[Mister Six]

Apparently - with Ratchet & Clank already available. Don't know if this works for all regions, mind you...


https://www.polygon.com/22336378/ps4-free-games-play-at-home-2021-horizon-zero-dawn-ratchet-and-clank-playstation-ps5-psvr

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It works in Blighty. I've been playing R&C for the last few days. It was good timing for me, as I'd been thinking about buying that recently. I assume this is in addition to the free games you get with PS+.

[Bazooka]

Yeah it's not part of PS+, it was just given away to say thanks. I haven't played it, but would be mad not to add it to my library. I've actually never played a R&C game.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The only other one I've played is Ratchet and Clank 3 on the PS2[1]. If memory serves, that was a bit better than this one, but I've been enjoying this nonetheless. I've not played a good third person platform sort of game for quite a while.

1.	Oddly enough, I got that for free as well - back in 2010, when we all scammed that catalogue.

[Chedney Honks]

Rez Infinite obviously the standout there.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I finished Ratchet and Clank last night. Darn good fun overall but, by crikey, some of the weapons are almost game breakingly overpowered. The XP upgrade system does at least encourage you to use the less powerful guns, but then they level up and you're back to mowing down baddies so effortlessly that it's silly. The disco ball weapon (while funny) is particularly OP, letting you freeze whole roomfuls of enemies and pick them off without breaking a sweat.

Also, it all seems a bit slapped together. A bit lacking in personality, compared to R&C3 and what I've seen of the others.

But I can't really complain. It was free, after all. I've already got Horizon Zero Dawn but I'm looking forward to the other (non VR) games.

Speaking of free(ish) Playstation games, has anyone tried PS Now? I've heard plenty about Gamepass, but precious little on whether this is worth a subscription.

[Bazooka]

PS Now is hit and miss, it's absolutely rammed with trash but there is also a decent amount of top tier stuff, for £40 a year I do think it's worth it. If you didn't play much PS3, there is a good selection of games to catch up, in fact it's predominantly PS3 catalogue. The biggest problem for those with both PS Plus and Now, is for the last 6 months or so they keep releasing games games that had just came out on the other service. I play Battlefield and Hunt Showdown online so I'd pay for PS Plus regardless of the games.

List of all PS Now games below:

https://www.pushsquare.com/guides/all-playstation-now-games

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

You can get a weeks free trial of PS Now, so you can try before you buy.

[Chedney Honks]

Rez Infinite obviously the standout there.

[Blue Jam]

Never played R&C but Sunset Overdrive is from the same developers isn't it? That's good, I recommend it to the Xbox peeps.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The other games seem to be available now. I'm a bit hungover, so I might give that Abzu a try. That looks nice and peaceful.

[Bazooka]

I already have Rez and Enter the Gungeon, so grabbed Subnautica as Abzu is on PSNow. Enter the Gungeon is good fun and great soundtrack by Doseone.

[Chairman Yang]

This seems like a really good selection, which is wild. I love the new Area X in Rez, it's so pretty! Definitely glad I didn't pay for it though. Subnautica crashed twice then a fish killed me so I won't be playing that.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

This is a good selection for me, as it's all stuff that I've regarded with some interest, but would probably never have bothered buying.

Abzu was a very pleasant way to while away a Sunday evening. "From the makers of Journey", although it would perhaps be more accurate to say, "from the remakers of Journey" since it's pretty much the same thing, but underwater. It's possibly not quite as good as that - I didn't feel as much of a connection to AI fish as I did with the human companions in Journey and, as a result, it didn't hit an emotional note as high as Journey's frozen mountain bit. Also, while the music was spectacular, my preferred soundtrack for underwater exploration will always be this: https://youtu.be/wAPpVplHiDE - It wasn't far off, though. I uttered an awestruck "Fucking hell" on a number of occasions.

[The Culture Bunker]

I downloaded the two underwater games and 'Witness' (is that right?) yesterday, and also began playing Ratchet and Clank after downloading that a few weeks back. R&C is fun enough, not usually my sort of game but a nice enough way to spend a Sunday.

Not sure Abzu while do much for me, as I played Journey for a couple of hours when that was free before getting bored and never returning to it.

[Non Stop Dancer]

The Witness is an interesting one. It got way too tricky for me, but then I'm quite thick, but up until that point I absolutely loved it and there's more than meets the eye about it, and discovering what that thing is was one of the best things I've ever come across in a game. Would heartily recommend giving it a couple hours at least and seeing how you get on.

[The Culture Bunker]

The Witness is an interesting one. It got way too tricky for me, but then I'm quite thick, but up until that point I absolutely loved it and there's more than meets the eye about it, and discovering what that thing is was one of the best things I've ever come across in a game. Would heartily recommend giving it a couple hours at least and seeing how you get on.

I put in a couple of hours last night - kind of baffling at first but once I got to grips with it's internal logic I quite enjoyed it and felt chuffed when I managed to light up some of the laser things. Might well have helped to the decent night's sleep I had too.

[Non Stop Dancer]

Have you discovered the "thing" I alluded to yet ?

[The Culture Bunker]

Erm, I don't think so. Just solved some puzzles to set off the lasers/light beam pointing to the top of the mountain, though I think I've only got a couple left to do now.

[Non Stop Dancer]

Be interested to know when you do and if you're as impressed with it as I was.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I just had a quick go at The Witness. Quite pleasant so far, particularly the visual style. There's more to it than just the little maze puzzles, though, right?

I ran into a dead end on the series of apple trees, as one of them didn't have an apple on it. Has something gone wrong there, or am I being thick?

[Bazooka]

You need to buy the apple dlc, £18.99.

No idea, I've added it to my library to play at some point.  I had an aversion to the puzzle genre for many years, but this year thanks to the endless sales I've had some great fun with some neat little games.

[madhair60]

I just had a quick go at The Witness. Quite pleasant so far, particularly the visual style. There's more to it than just the little maze puzzles, though, right?

I ran into a dead end on the series of apple trees, as one of them didn't have an apple on it. Has something gone wrong there, or am I being thick?

Look at the ground

[Chedney Honks]

I just had a quick go at The Witness. Quite pleasant so far, particularly the visual style. There's more to it than just the little maze puzzles, though, right?

I ran into a dead end on the series of apple trees, as one of them didn't have an apple on it. Has something gone wrong there, or am I being thick?

Short answer is that you have to find the branch with the apple in the surrounding area, if it's the one I remember. Every area goes according to a similar pattern, it teaches you the new rules and lets you practice them, then subverts them in some way and then you need to use/explore the environment to solve the later ones. Your brain will eventually click into its rhythms but expect that when you get stuck, you probably need to find a different perspective or think more laterally.

[brat-sampson]

I just had a quick go at The Witness. Quite pleasant so far, particularly the visual style. There's more to it than just the little maze puzzles, though, right?

I ran into a dead end on the series of apple trees, as one of them didn't have an apple on it. Has something gone wrong there, or am I being thick?

Why didn't it have an apple on it?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Look at the ground

Oh, I am very ashamed of myself.

[madhair60]

Oh, I am very ashamed of myself.

don't be. game is nails. It's brilliant mind.

[Mister Six]

I just had a quick go at The Witness. Quite pleasant so far, particularly the visual style. There's more to it than just the little maze puzzles, though, right?

Yeah I was wondering that. I remembered people talking about finding puzzles but I wasn't expecting it to just be a bunch of computer screens bolted onto factory walls.

Still quite a nice, chilled experience though.

[madhair60]

Yes, there is more to it, and the discovery thereof is a top-tier gaming moment in all of the medium's history

[Mister Six]

Ooh okay, cool - thanks!