Agreed, this was peak Sony.
Market has moved and they need to make blockbuster titles that appeal to largely western audiences. I get it, but I'm not exactly thrilled by it.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Am I the only one that preferred Sony's internal development in past generations more?
- Thread starter Zweisy1
- Start date
Market has moved and they need to make blockbuster titles that appeal to largely western audiences. I get it, but I'm not exactly thrilled by it.
yeah i agree, they had some Bangers for sure on ps4, but there was a ton of unique stuff on the ps3. They hit their stride with narrative focused third person action games, but i hope we get more weird stuff from them on the ps5
I don't think it's boring, especially because it's short (5-6 hours) so it doesn't get repetitive. I recommend grabbing on a sale.
By a wide margin I prefer the PS2 - PS3 output over the cinematic over the shoulder adventure games. Bloodborne was the only PS4 title co-developed by Sony Japan I really enjoyed, tho I admit I also didn't play Knack, Dreams or The Tomorrow Children, but I prolly would have enjoyed it more than any of that cinematic stuff because it just never really appealed to me that much. I like game-y games like Tokyo Jungle, Parappa The Rapper, Patapon and not stuff that tries to be a movie.
And to note, not a slight at anyone who does like that stuff and too I'm super happy that Sony's first party has found so much success, it's just that after playing some of Sony's modern cinematic game output I realized it ain't for me.
And to note, not a slight at anyone who does like that stuff and too I'm super happy that Sony's first party has found so much success, it's just that after playing some of Sony's modern cinematic game output I realized it ain't for me.
I can sort of see where you are coming from, as the PS1 and PS2 had a greater variety of games from different genres. I also still feel Sony Japan's output has been lacking this past decade as well.
But PS4 had some of the best first party games this generation, so I cant say I fully agree.
But PS4 had some of the best first party games this generation, so I cant say I fully agree.
Well op I mean of the games you listed I only enjoyed Legend of Dragoon and even then it was pretty mediocre.
I do agree I'd like a but more variety but the PS5 has Astro Playroom and a Demon's Souls remake so at this point I couldn't be happier with their output.
I do agree I'd like a but more variety but the PS5 has Astro Playroom and a Demon's Souls remake so at this point I couldn't be happier with their output.
I just want to see more collaborations like they did in the PS3 / PS Vita era (though they did a lot more before that) with Soul Sacrifice (developed by Marvelous), Freedom Wars (developed by Dimps / Shift), Wild Arms (developed by Media Vision), My Summer Vacation (developed by Millennium Kitchen), Rain (developed by Acquire), etc. I imagine those games don't cost a whole lot to make, but they're all good in their own right and add to the exclusive lineup variety.
I feel the same way. The output is largely western-focused, and has to have these enormous production values. Sure they are well-received games, but it's all very boring to me. Astrobot tells me that Japan Studio still got it, but they aren't given enough room to create. The output has gotten less interesting since PS3, to the point where almost nothing is interesting to me anymore.
It sucks we won't ever see a console sequel to Wild Arms or Legend of Dragoon. I hate Sony's western focus.
sony japan helping them to fund the ps1 title, for the second game poporogue, popolocrois II was also developed by sony second-party sugar＆rockets, and G-artists (they are now called epics) developed popolocrois for trilogy ps1, ps2, and psp.
the previous popolocrois title is currently Sony Japan Studio IPs http://www.playstation.com/ja-jp/sie-worldwide-studios/sie-japan-studio/history-1994-1998/ while the rights now owned by epics http://www.epics.jp/rightsmanagement
With the way Sony has been leveraging Bluepoint, its clear that the company is at least aware of a gap between their current and previous output. Hopefully that eventually translates into more resources for brand new content/concepts rather than an ongoing trend of reinvisioning the greatest hits.
I love the psp game
the 3ds game was nice too, but Iliked it better as a more pure rpg
Which Sony produced games do you actually prefer from previous gens?
I definitely prefer their exclusives during the PS1/PS2 like Crash, Jak/Daxter, and Sly Cooper. I can't really get into any of their PS3/PS4 exclusives
I definitely think they've become more risk-averse since finding their jackpot in making high-spectacle third person action stuff. They definitely do make stuff besides that, like Astrobot and LBP, but theu feel very few and far between compared to their output before. I find it a shame, personally, as someone that really liked their output in the past but has struggled to get into their mid-PS3 era onward stuff. They're not bad by any means, but I like variety in my first-party offerings if I'm gonna buy a console for them.
I guess, but I've never really bought a Sony console for their 1st party output anyway. Not to say I don't enjoy any of them, I quite liked God of War for instance, but they aren't system sellers for me. That said I do think there was a certain uniqueness to their smaller budget games from PS1/PS2 that they haven't really recaptured since.
I think Sony does its best work when its internal studios (e.g., Japan Studio) partner and work with external studios (e.g., From Software) and we get the best game ever made, which is Bloodborne.
Sony during the PS3 era was my favorite due to the amount of multiplayer focused games they made during that time. Stuff like Warhawk, MAG, Socom Confrontation/4, Killzone 2/3, Resistance 2, Fat Princess and probably some others I'm forgetting. Outside of Spider-Man, God of War, and Infamous SS I didn't really care for much of their singleplayer offerings.
Looking back at Sony's best two studios (imo), what they delivered and where it started:
Japan Studio
Psygnosis / Studio Liverpool
Japan Studio
- Afrika (PS3)
- Alundra series (PS1)
- Ape Escape series (PS1)
- Arc the Lad series (PS1)
- AstroBot series (PS4)
- Badman / No Heroes Allowed series (PSP)
- Beat Sketcher (PS2)
- Beyond the Beyond (PS1)
- Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light (PSP)
- Bleach series (PS2)
- Blood: The Last Vampire series (PS1)
- Bloodborne (PS4)
- Boku no Natsuyatsumi series (PS1)
- Brave Story series (PS2)
- Brightis (PS1)
- ChainDive (PS2)
- Coded Soul (PSP)
- Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn / Chase the Express (PS1)
- Crime Crackers series (PS1)
- Dark Cloud series (PS2)
- Dark Mist (PS3)
- Demon's Souls (PS3)
- Déraciné (PS4)
- Derby Time series (PSP)
- Destiny of Spirits (PSV)
- Devil Dice / Bombastic series (PS1)
- Dokodemo Issho / Toro series (PS1)
- Dual Hearts (PS2)
- Echochrome series (PSP)
- Elemental Gearbolt (PS1)
- Extermination (PS2)
- FantaVision series (PS2)
- Flipnic (PS2)
- Finny Fish and the Seven Waters (PS2)
- Folklore (PS3)
- Freedom Wars (PSV)
- Genji series (PS2)
- Ghost in the Shell series (PS1)
- Gravity Rush series (PSV)
- Gunner's Heaven / Rapid Reload (PS1)
- Gunparade series (PS1)
- Hermie Hopperhead series (PS1)
- Hot Shots / Everybody's Sports series (PS1)
- Hungry Ghosts (PS2)
- ICO (PS2)
- Intelligent Qube series (PS1)
- Jeanne d'Arc (PSP)
- Jumping Flash series (PS1)
- Kingdom of Paradise series (PSP)
- Knack series (PS4)
- Kuma Uta (PS2)
- Kung Fu Rider (PS3)
- Legalia series (PS1)
- Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
- Lifeline (PS2)
- Loco Roco series (PSP)
- Mad Maestro! series (PS2)
- Mister Mosquito series (PS2)
- Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (PSP)
- MyStylist (PS2)
- Numblast (PSP)
- Okage: Shadow King (PS2)
- Oreshika series (PS1)
- Parappa the Rapper series (PS1)
- Patapon series (PSP)
- Patchwork Heroes (PSP)
- Philosoma (PS1)
- Piyotama (PSP)
- Poinie's Poin (PS1)
- PoPoLoCrois series (PS1)
- Project Horned Owl (PS1)
- Puppeteer (PS3)
- Rain (PS3)
- Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
- Rule of Rose (PS2)
- SkyGunner (PS2)
- Sky Odyssey (PS2)
- Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
- Siren series (PS2)
- Soul Sacrifice series (PSV)
- Space Fisherman (PS2)
- Talkman series (PSP)
- The Eye of Judgement series (PS3)
- The Granstream Saga (PS1)
- The Last Guardian (PS4)
- The Last Guy (PS3)
- The Playroom series (PS3)
- The Tomorrow Children (PS4)
- Tiny Bullets (PS1)
- Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
- Tomba series (PS1)
- Toy Home (PS3)
- Trash Panic (PS3)
- Um Jammer Lammy (PS1)
- Vib-Ribbon series (PS1)
- White Knight Chronicles series (PS3)
- Wild Arms series (PS1)
- Wonder Trek (PS1)
- WTF! Work Time Fun (PSP)
Psygnosis / Studio Liverpool
- A Bug's Life series (PS1)
- Adidas Power Soccer series (PS1)
- Assault Rigs (PS1)
- Attack of the Saucermen (PS1)
- Blast Radius (PS1)
- Chronicles of the Sword (PS1)
- Cliff Diving (PSV)
- Codename / Lifeforce Tenka (PS1)
- Colony Wars series (PS1)
- DarkStalkers: The Night Warriors (port only) (PS1)
- Destruction Derby series (PS1)
- Discworld series (ports only) (PS1)
- Drakan series (PS2)
- Eliminator (PS1)
- Fireworks (PSV)
- Formula One series (PS1)
- G-Police series (PS1)
- Global Domination (PS1)
- Kingsley's Adventure (PS1)
- Krazy Ivan (PS1)
- League of Pain / Riot (PS1)
- Lemmings series (PS1)
- Mickey's Wild Adventure (port only) (PS1)
- Muppets RaceMania (PS1)
- Newman Haas Racing (PS1)
- Novastorm (PS1)
- O.D.T. (PS1)
- Pro 18 World Tour Golf (PS1)
- Psybadeck (PS1)
- Rascal (PS1)
- Retro Force (PS1)
- Roll Away / Kula World (PS1)
- Rollcage series (PS1)
- Roscoe McQueen: Firefighter Extreme (PS1)
- Rush Hour (PS1)
- Sentient (PS1)
- Sentinel Returns (PS1)
- Shadow Master (PS1)
- Shipwreckers! / Overboard! (PS1)
- SingStar series (support) (PS2)
- Table Soccer / Football (PSV)
- Team Buddies (PS1)
- The Adventures of Lomax (PS1)
- The City of Lost Children (PS1)
- Thunder Truck Rally / Monster Trucks (PS1)
- Wipeout series (PS1)
Same here on both counts. Plus with the amount of time developing games takes nowadays, if you don't a particular studio's game then you can reasonably expect to same maybe one other game from them that gen. I wasn't interested in God of War 2018 for example, and that's just about the only high profile game Santa Monica developed. Same with media molecule and Dreams, and I think Dreams was announced in 2013 or so.
Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ape Escape, Legend of Dragoon, old style God of War, Twisted Metal, etc. yea, Sony's missing quite a lot of what made them unique and diverse. Now, they are the studio of Tomb Raider clone 1, Tomb Raider Clone 2 with zombies, and various other cinematic single player experiences and some funds to go to From Software and select indies.
I definitely prefered their Japanese stuff to the more western stuff in the PS1 - PS3 days. But I've come around a bit with PS4.
E.g. I was never a God of War fan (just a bad Devil May Cry clone imo) but I loved the PS4 GOW
E.g. I was never a God of War fan (just a bad Devil May Cry clone imo) but I loved the PS4 GOW
Completely agree. Their late 7th-Gen and 8th Gen titles have just not been for me. I don't enjoy games like The Last of Us or Uncharted, I find them so boring. I wish they'd make games with compelling gameplay again like the Jak series, Ape Escape, and more stuff like Astro Bot
What the fuck, Toyama left? :( He was my hope about a new Silent Hill. Fuck, man.
Well, I agree, OP. For me it the 1st party offering from Sony was never good anymore as it was on PS1 and PS2 gens. PS3 was bad for me and PS4 was ok.
And I like the ND games but it seems everyone is trying to replicate it somehow. The new God of War for example is such a samey AAA game, the older games at least had same sort of true identity. Gran Turismo Sport is good as GT6 was but it was never as good as PS1 and PS2 GT games.
And the lack of big japanese games is such a shame. Legend of Dragoon is my favorite game ever, Wild Arms my favorite series ever so yeah....
It was a sucesful as today? Totally not. But it was more creative, more daring and more fun.
These days I dread to buy a new Playstation to play 2 or 3 games. In the PS1 and PS2 era they were my console of choice.
They are far and away the best first party publisher, nostalgia is a hell of a thing.
I distinctly remember during the ps3 gen the narrative people tried to name was that Sony made games no one cared for. They used meta and sales to back up their claims. Now that Sony is killing it with both the narrative changed to they are boring.
if you want to talk about repetitive cycles in game development th Nintendo is way worse.
there's no one making the last guardian except Sony. No one is making a game like tlou2. No one is making a game like Dreams. People want to ignore all the different things they make because they have 3-4 open world games. And between those they all play way differently. Unless you think Spiderman plays like GoT or Horizon?
Maybe people like jank or low production values, who knows, there's plenty of games out there but not many people are making games like Sony. We should be thankful big sp games are still on the forefront of their development and not turning into mp gaas or party games.
I distinctly remember during the ps3 gen the narrative people tried to name was that Sony made games no one cared for. They used meta and sales to back up their claims. Now that Sony is killing it with both the narrative changed to they are boring.
if you want to talk about repetitive cycles in game development th Nintendo is way worse.
there's no one making the last guardian except Sony. No one is making a game like tlou2. No one is making a game like Dreams. People want to ignore all the different things they make because they have 3-4 open world games. And between those they all play way differently. Unless you think Spiderman plays like GoT or Horizon?
Maybe people like jank or low production values, who knows, there's plenty of games out there but not many people are making games like Sony. We should be thankful big sp games are still on the forefront of their development and not turning into mp gaas or party games.
Let me frame it like this "Am I the only one that doesn't think The Last of Us 2 has the same gameplay loop as Horizon Zero Dawn, and both are much better than Eyepet and Twisted Metal?" The answer is no as the sales figures would indicate.
I mean, they're still releasing some weirder games. Death Stranding, Dreams, and The Last Guardian all released this gen.
I'll say that I am not all that into God of War or Horizon compared to most people, so it kinda hurts that 2 of their big 3 franchises going forward just aren't really my thing, but a lot of their other titles have been great. Spider-Man should also be great going forward, so there's that, but honestly most of my favorite games on Sony consoles, whether they are exclusive or not, come from third-parties, so it's hard for me to really figure out which gen was my favorite from them.
I think one thing they really, really need going forward is an actual full-on RPG. I know God of War and Horizon each have RPG elements (Which personally I'm not a fan of in those games at all), but neither really scratch the RPG itch for me. I think the lack of this kind of game is only going to become more apparent this gen with Microsoft having Obsidian and Bethesda working on new projects. I know a lot of people think Sony's studios should continue doing what they've done this gen, but I think the fatigue is going to set in by the end of this gen. Like, yes, God of War, Spider-Man, and Horizon are different games in tone and they're clearly different in content, but they're still third-person open world games, and I honestly think the fatigue is going to settle in at some point unless these sequels look a lot different structurally. There's also the chance that Sony just keeps paying money to keep Final Fantasy exclusive as its real RPG offering, but I don't think that's really good for everyone, and I don't want to see moneyhatting to keep people from playing games, even though Microsoft has already done just that with the Bethesda acquisition I suppose.
I'll say that I am not all that into God of War or Horizon compared to most people, so it kinda hurts that 2 of their big 3 franchises going forward just aren't really my thing, but a lot of their other titles have been great. Spider-Man should also be great going forward, so there's that, but honestly most of my favorite games on Sony consoles, whether they are exclusive or not, come from third-parties, so it's hard for me to really figure out which gen was my favorite from them.
I think one thing they really, really need going forward is an actual full-on RPG. I know God of War and Horizon each have RPG elements (Which personally I'm not a fan of in those games at all), but neither really scratch the RPG itch for me. I think the lack of this kind of game is only going to become more apparent this gen with Microsoft having Obsidian and Bethesda working on new projects. I know a lot of people think Sony's studios should continue doing what they've done this gen, but I think the fatigue is going to set in by the end of this gen. Like, yes, God of War, Spider-Man, and Horizon are different games in tone and they're clearly different in content, but they're still third-person open world games, and I honestly think the fatigue is going to settle in at some point unless these sequels look a lot different structurally. There's also the chance that Sony just keeps paying money to keep Final Fantasy exclusive as its real RPG offering, but I don't think that's really good for everyone, and I don't want to see moneyhatting to keep people from playing games, even though Microsoft has already done just that with the Bethesda acquisition I suppose.
The last 5 years have been the best for me as a PlayStation fan personally. I don't think the games are "samey" at all.
Talking for me, I don't care for numbers on a site, my favorite game have a 73 on metacritic. Nor I should care about sales, I aint a Sony shareholder.
I like creative and fun games. And games like Days Gone, God of War and TLOU2 are disappointing in that regard (although TLOU2 is an amazing game).
Games doesnt need to be a behemoth in production values to be great either, I prefer two or three good and varied and risk-taking games than one bloated game like God of War that uses every trope of modern AAA gaming.
I'm kind of there with you. I enjoyed God of War and Horizon for the most part but the rest of their 1st party output just....doesn't interest me at all. I don't know I would consider them samey they just...I agree have a similar feel around them? They definitely have a Sony feel and for many that's great.
At the end of the day if their output doesn't excite you or interest you, there is always Nintendo and Microsoft who seem to be doing other things as well.
At the end of the day if their output doesn't excite you or interest you, there is always Nintendo and Microsoft who seem to be doing other things as well.
And games dont need to be extremely unique or innovative to be great either, if all you play are risk taking games you arent going to play many games.
What current gen games play like Gow? You haved dmc kind of? The gameplay in Gow is second to none. Same with tlou2 it plays as good as anything. I'll take quality over innovation of the innovative game isn't fun (see no man's sky).
People strangely use production values against Sony s as if it diminishes their games or something, it only enhances the experience. Or they group games that don't play anything like each other simply because they are high production. It's super reductive and a lazy argument imo
If people just said these types of games weren't for them, it would be that simple. I haven't been a huge fan of a majority of the switch lineup, but obviously tons of people are. Which is fine. No games or types of games are for everyone.
If by previous gens you mean pre-Ps5, I'm quite fond of Wipeout, the Ps2 God of War games, the Ps2 Fumito Ueda games, the Ps3 Little Big Planet games (I think that the editor is brilliant but the platforming gameplay is mediocre tbh), and TLOU series.
As I said before, I feel that their Ps4 focus has been in cinematic games heavily inspired on ND's Ps3 output (Uncharted/TLOU) or Ubisoft-esque games.
Sadly some of their smaller productions have been not that great (Gravity Rush 1 is mediocre IMO, don't know about 2), and their best 1st party Ps4 game was developed by FROM and feels like another FROM game (which is great but not unique to Sony).
Early Sony had a more diverse lineup of games in my opinion. I like the PS1 - PS2 Sony better, but this Sony is great too. I have no complaints either way.
While the production values are high i don´t really like the big Sony exclusives these days. too cookie cutter, too mainstream and often it reminds me of the Ubisoft formula .
for example, Spider-Man is a fun game, no question. but the first thing i´ve thought when i´ve played it on release was "well, that could also be Ubisofts take on Spider-Man".
or Ghost of Tsushima, i don´t even understood the massive praise for this game, it was also Ubisoft style just with a marker removed and instead you had the wind blowing into the direction where something is. suddenly everyone goes "wow, revolutionary!" no, it was the same open world trope stuff with tasks that are basically a checklist. cool when you do it one time, not exciting when doing 5 times and downright boring when doing 30 times.
same for Horizon, what a boring slog of a game featuring the snarky main character trope, a beautiful yet sterile open world, checklist tasks. they know what sells big these days and exactly this is how the games feel to me: made to sell big because there is a graphical wow effect, there are systems that are already known from other games and there is this cinematic approach which people love nowadays.
another problem is that the games often feel a bit...dated to me when it comes to systems. might have to do with the long development cycles these days but somehow it all comes off as stuff from yesteryear, there was hardly a game from them where i thought "wow, thats fresh and something new, awesome!"
also too narrative focused, more often than not these are one and done games.
but i appreciate that they still do gameplay focused stuff like Returnal.
for me PS2 era Sony was the peak.
for example, Spider-Man is a fun game, no question. but the first thing i´ve thought when i´ve played it on release was "well, that could also be Ubisofts take on Spider-Man".
or Ghost of Tsushima, i don´t even understood the massive praise for this game, it was also Ubisoft style just with a marker removed and instead you had the wind blowing into the direction where something is. suddenly everyone goes "wow, revolutionary!" no, it was the same open world trope stuff with tasks that are basically a checklist. cool when you do it one time, not exciting when doing 5 times and downright boring when doing 30 times.
same for Horizon, what a boring slog of a game featuring the snarky main character trope, a beautiful yet sterile open world, checklist tasks. they know what sells big these days and exactly this is how the games feel to me: made to sell big because there is a graphical wow effect, there are systems that are already known from other games and there is this cinematic approach which people love nowadays.
another problem is that the games often feel a bit...dated to me when it comes to systems. might have to do with the long development cycles these days but somehow it all comes off as stuff from yesteryear, there was hardly a game from them where i thought "wow, thats fresh and something new, awesome!"
also too narrative focused, more often than not these are one and done games.
but i appreciate that they still do gameplay focused stuff like Returnal.
for me PS2 era Sony was the peak.