Let's do something fun spanning the past four generations.
To celebrate Sony's first party output since the PS1, let's put them into two categories: Sony's Game of the Generation, and Sony's most replayable game that generation (it could also be their best game as well). So here's an example:
PS1:
Best: Probably Crash Warped, which has aged as a very solid and fun platformer and found a good balance between difficulty, secrets and fun.
Most Replayable: Twisted Metal 2
This was their weakest generation as they didn't have a robust crop of first party studios yet, and many of their published games were simply regular third party games like Final Fantasy VII (yup, co-published by Sony).
PS2:
Best: Shadow of the Colossus, a game whose influence could be felt years in the future. Cory Barlog, during one of his interviews about God of War, talked about Shadow of the Colossus' feeling of exploration and discovery when discussing God of War.
Most Replayable: Twisted Metal Black or Amplitude, probably. I don't know how their hours compare.
Here, we begin to see improvements in their published games and the size of their first party studios. 2005's GOTY contenders had two Sony games (God of War and SOTC), along with games like RE4 and Guitar Hero.
PS3:
Best and Most Replayable: The Last of Us. I assume not everyone would consider TLOU infinitely replayable, but I've returned to it around once a year and never get sick of exploring the abandoned neighborhoods, city blocks, sewers, etc. and piecing together what happened and using a shiv to those wonderful doors.
Here, we're really seeing the fruits of their growth. Games like Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us dominated GOTY awards. Games like God of War 3, LittleBigPlanet, Demon's Souls and Uncharted 3 were competitive. There were still some issues that many games last gen had, worse frame rates for some of their bigger and more expensive games being the big one for me, but their crop of games really showed improvements.
PS4:
Best and Most Replayable: Bloodborne
There's still time to really see what will influence the most and how often I'll come back to certain games this gen, but so far, I've come back to Bloodborne a bunch of times, I've gotten what would have been several plats had my trophies reset just because I like doing everything, and it's one of the best experiences I've had in gaming full-stop. Will games like Horizon or God of War or Uncharted 4/Lost Legacy fill that as well? Will I return to Last Guardian and remember why I loved it so much? Will upcoming games like Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Dreams, Ghost of Tsushima and Last of Us Part II compete for those spots?
I can totally see that. But for now, it's all Bloodborne.
To celebrate Sony's first party output since the PS1, let's put them into two categories: Sony's Game of the Generation, and Sony's most replayable game that generation (it could also be their best game as well). So here's an example:
PS1:
Best: Probably Crash Warped, which has aged as a very solid and fun platformer and found a good balance between difficulty, secrets and fun.
Most Replayable: Twisted Metal 2
This was their weakest generation as they didn't have a robust crop of first party studios yet, and many of their published games were simply regular third party games like Final Fantasy VII (yup, co-published by Sony).
PS2:
Best: Shadow of the Colossus, a game whose influence could be felt years in the future. Cory Barlog, during one of his interviews about God of War, talked about Shadow of the Colossus' feeling of exploration and discovery when discussing God of War.
Most Replayable: Twisted Metal Black or Amplitude, probably. I don't know how their hours compare.
Here, we begin to see improvements in their published games and the size of their first party studios. 2005's GOTY contenders had two Sony games (God of War and SOTC), along with games like RE4 and Guitar Hero.
PS3:
Best and Most Replayable: The Last of Us. I assume not everyone would consider TLOU infinitely replayable, but I've returned to it around once a year and never get sick of exploring the abandoned neighborhoods, city blocks, sewers, etc. and piecing together what happened and using a shiv to those wonderful doors.
Here, we're really seeing the fruits of their growth. Games like Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us dominated GOTY awards. Games like God of War 3, LittleBigPlanet, Demon's Souls and Uncharted 3 were competitive. There were still some issues that many games last gen had, worse frame rates for some of their bigger and more expensive games being the big one for me, but their crop of games really showed improvements.
PS4:
Best and Most Replayable: Bloodborne
There's still time to really see what will influence the most and how often I'll come back to certain games this gen, but so far, I've come back to Bloodborne a bunch of times, I've gotten what would have been several plats had my trophies reset just because I like doing everything, and it's one of the best experiences I've had in gaming full-stop. Will games like Horizon or God of War or Uncharted 4/Lost Legacy fill that as well? Will I return to Last Guardian and remember why I loved it so much? Will upcoming games like Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Dreams, Ghost of Tsushima and Last of Us Part II compete for those spots?
I can totally see that. But for now, it's all Bloodborne.
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