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What are the best open world games for PS4?

49

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Considered

606

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Recs.

Dec 21, 2023

Last
Updated

48 Games Considered

Best open world games for PS4	Price	Genre	Platforms
85 Horizon Zero Dawn	$59.99	-	-
84 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	$26.26	Action RPG	Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
-- Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen	$29.99	-	-
-- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	$39.99	Fantasy Role-Playing	Windows, Xbox, PS, Nintendo Switch
-- Gravity Rush 2	$39.99	-	-

Horizon Zero Dawn

Top Pro

Intriguing world

At first glance the world seems simple. Tribes-folk living in beautiful landscapes of snow, sand, and lush green, trying to get by through hunting and gathering. Then you get introduced to the other inhabitants – the machines. It suddenly makes you wonder about their origin, their appearance and their purpose. What lead to their creation and why did civilization regress to pockets of tribal settlements. You'll be interested in exploring the world and finding out for yourself. See More

Top Con

The game is difficult

Horizon Zero Dawn is incredibly challenging. Even players that are good at the game still have difficulties facing some enemies. See More

Abhishek Gupta's Experience

This game is so beautiful that I dreamt about it constantly :P This is the only game which I have ever played each and every single side mission of just to try to kill the animals in different ways with different weapons. So much fun!!! See More

Top Pro

Exciting hunting gameplay

The main focus of the game is hunting robotic creatures also known as "machines". They are similar to real animals in both appearance and behavior, so a lot of them move in packs. You have to be careful in how you approach them, because provoking one of them will also provoke the others. You can hide in tall grass and attract them one by one with whistling. This way you can take them out silently with your spear, minimizing the danger. Or you can get into a direct confrontation, which is a lot more intense when there are multiple enemies. You'll have to learn their patterns, so you know when to dodge or attack with your weapon (usually a bow or slingshot). When you finally manage to defeat them, it truly feels like an achievement. See More

Top Pro

Great story

Story based around robots and A.I. is something rare in the sea of fantasy open world games. See More

Top Pro

Each upgrade and skill feels meaningful

Most games nowadays are plagued by needlessly high level caps, useless skills and meaningless upgrades. In Horizon Zero Dawn Each upgrade and new skill unlock actually helps you become a more efficient hunter. There's Silent Strike, which lets you perform silent takedowns on enemies, both robotic and human. Enemies that would've taken a lot of effort to beat previously, can now be taken out in one hit. However, on its own it's mediocre at best, so you have to get other abilities to make it more effective. One such ability is Low Profile, which makes you less visible when you're crouching. This lets you to sneak up on enemies much easier, allowing you to use Silent Strike more often. There's also the upgrades, which can be either a boost to your damage, rate of fire, an increase to your carrying capacity or a unique technology such as the cloaking field. The damage and rate of fire upgrades are very straightforward, allowing you to defeat machines in a shorter amount of time. The carrying capacity upgrade helps you go on longer hunts without having to make a return trip. The cloaking field makes it a lot safer to travel and a lot easier to get the jump on enemies. See More

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Top Pro

Side quests are as good as the main quests

There are almost no lazy "go get me 12 turtle shells" quests in the Witcher 3 and you get to experience some amazing writing even in the most obscure side quests. See More

Top Con

Leveling system

Joey Lucciano's Experience

Beautiful landscape, rich story, and fund side adventures! See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Action RPG

Top Pro

Your choices lead to morally-gray consequences and multiple different endings

There are rarely any right answers when making decisions. The situations that the story puts you in are unique and oftentimes unsettling, sometimes leaving you agonizing over which dialog option to pick during story conversations. During your first playthrough, it's isn't obvious which of your decisions are "important" and will impact plot outcomes, making you think critically about all of your choices. Most surprising are the critical decisions that determine which ending you get -- once you see your ending, you learn how organic everything is, with the game keeping track of your relationships with other characters in subtle ways. See More

Top Con

Some main story segments drag on for way too long

The story is generally excellent except for certain parts that seem to go on and on for hours with no end in sight. You start off looking into someone who has information on Ciri, only to get the run-around in the worst of ways, chasing down several leads for many different characters all at one time. Just when you think you're done with a series of main quests, you have to go talk to someone else, or kill some other monster, or go to some other place instead. It's really annoying and kills the pacing of the otherwise well-written narrative. See More

HilariousVagitanus's Experience

I loved it . I have finished it 6 times . See More

Top Pro

Vast and beautiful open world to explore

The world is gorgeous in how untainted it is, with many locations to see and visit. Full of vibrant life, the medieval-style setting is simple and understated, with wide open fields, rainy meadows, snowy mountain ranges, and modest wooden towns and cities for you to roam around on horseback or on foot. There are tons of secrets to find all over, like monster lairs to destroy for loot, treasure maps to follow, and hidden side quests in remote villages. The in-game clock keeps the skies changing with the hour as you cross from city to city, country to country, brightening the horizons with brilliant, golden sunrises in the morning and burning crimson sunsets in the evening. Everything is amazing to look at, encouraging you to wander around aimlessly just to take in the sights. See More

Top Con

Story quests may feel like a chore

If you happen to enjoy doing side quests, you might end up overleveled for the story quests, allowing you to easily power through them. This may remove the challenge and enjoyment, causing it to feel like a chore, especially because the loot also remains low-level. See More

Top Pro

Fleshed-out romance options

Playing as Geralt, you have the choice to have one-night stands with ladies at certain taverns, or you can focus on his more involved romantic subplots. By this third game, Geralt has quite a long history with two competent and beautiful sorceresses: Triss Merigold, his love interest from The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, and Yennefer of Vengerberg, his old flame from the series of The Witcher novels that the games are based on. The two women also happen to be best friends, injecting some drama depending on how you go about things. Triss is really sweet, fun, and spontaneous with the way she makes the stoic Geralt smile and open up more as they get up to mischief together. On the other hand, Yennefer is strict, straightforward, and no-nonsense, not wanting to get into feelings all that much, and yet she and Geralt have such a strong bond over several years, making it feel special when Yen does occasionally let her guard down. Both of these romances intertwine well with the main story, with great optional side quests that add even more layers to whichever relationship you decide to pursue. It's also possible to try romancing both of them at the same time, but you might regret it, so choose carefully. See More

Top Con

Performance hiccups

Even though the frame rate is capped at 30 frames per second it often drops below that. You also might experience long load times or textures not loading fully in some areas. See More

Top Pro

Thoughtful and expansive story with well-written characters

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt tells a deep and intricate story about the main character, Geralt, on his long journey to find his adoptive daughter, Ciri, who's on the run from the evil, supernatural warlords of the Wild Hunt. You spend the game following various leads on Ciri's whereabouts, meeting up with old friends, former lovers, powerful politicians, and all sorts of people from many walks of life. These characters usually want something in exchange for giving Geralt the information he wants, leading you down some unexpected and eye-opening paths as you learn more about who they are, how they met Ciri, and how she helped them grow as people, letting you form a bond with her through these thought-provoking tales. And as Geralt either helps or hurts these people himself, he inevitably impacts their lives in even more ways. Aside from the main story, there are also two great expansions: Hearts of Stone, and Blood and Wine, both of which offer their own amazing narratives with hours and hours of content. Hearts of Stone has you get involved with a shady, all-powerful manipulator who gives Geralt a series of seemingly impossible tasks, while Blood and Wine lets you explore the rolling hills of the wine-loving country of Touissant, with all the political intrigue surrounding the Duchess there. The Witcher 3's story has so much to offer, easily keeping you hooked for well over a hundred hours as you play and replay the base game and the excellent expansions. See More

Top Con

RPG, open world and the story

It's not a rpg because you can't be anything other than a witcher. Open world is big and boring no cool caves or houses, no encounters that are cool and make sense. The story takes 5 hours to get started then it's just predictable. See More

Top Pro

Accessible to players who are new to the Witcher series

Even though this is the third Witcher game, you can still jump right in and not feel lost. The story is generally good with the way it introduces you to the main characters without expecting you to know who they are. Geralt often reminisces with his friends from the first two games, letting you in on their history and adventures together to give you an idea of what happened in the past. And you don't have to have read the series of Witcher books, either, as the games all take place beyond the stories there. See More

Top Pro

Attention to detail in almost every facet of the game

The Witcher 3 is how an AAA title should play, sound, and feel like. Its deep combat, beautiful graphics, amazing sound, interesting quests, immersive story, and almost every other aspect of the game has a surprising amount of polish. See More

Top Pro

Lots of random side quests

You can just walk around for hours, find abandoned structures, caves, etc and find interesting side quests to do. See More

Top Pro

Convenient ways to get around the massive world

The world is intimidatingly massive but thankfully there are ways to cut down on travel time. You can ride a horse, use a boat, or just simply fast travel to explored locations. This makes the experience more accessible and enjoyable as a whole. See More

Top Pro

Great "eastern" atmosphere

The whole story has a feel like old tales of the east Europe: a lot of romantic but also though characters and ambiences. See More

Top Pro

Memorable and meaningful side quests

The Witcher 3 sets a new standard with how well-done the side quests are. Since Geralt is a witcher, meaning he specializes in dealing with monsters with his swords and magic spells, people often go to him when they need a monster problem taken care of. Some of these problems involve people who have lost loved ones to a monster and simply want help tracking down their corpses to give them a proper send-off, or they want Geralt to take revenge by tracking down the monster and killing it. These side stories go a long way to humanize the minor characters, letting you feel their grief, hopelessness, or anger within only a few short minutes of speaking with them and getting the quest details. It's impressive that the writers manage to consistently pack so much emotion into these optional quests that you might not even choose to play through. See More

Top Pro

The soundtrack is well constructed and complementary in almost all situations

While exploring, doing a quest whether it is main or side one, the music in the back always enhances your game play. When a fight starts it pumps you up by playing Slavic or Celtic beats, and on a heartbreaking scene, it slows down its pace and plays an instrumental that rings even after you close it. You won't even notice, but you start to hum Skelliege sound or Priscilla song in your daily chores. Watching the sun set over the horizon while the Kaer Morhen tune plays was one of the best moments in the game. Without the songs to complement it, the side quests or the battles would have started to feel like a chore after a while on doing side content. See More

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Top Pro

Interesting companion system

Throughout the game, you'll be accompanied by up to 3 NPCs called "Pawns." One of them will be a Pawn you created, and the other two will usually be summoned from other player's worlds. What's interesting about this is that Pawns will grow alongside players, but not just in terms of stats and levels. For example, if you fight monsters with the Pawns, they'll gradually gain knowledge about the monsters. Once they have enough knowledge, they'll be able to give you various hints through in-game dialogue about a monster's weaknesses, patterns, habitats, and so forth. You can also hire other player's Pawns that already have acquired all the knowledge, making the learning process much easier for you. Pawns also mimic their creator's behavior, so if you prefer to smash everything in sight, your Pawn might just do the same when visiting another player's world. It's a really cool companion system that gives the game a multiplayer feel without any actual multiplayer. See More

Top Con

Aught!

They say "aught" a lot. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Character size/weight affects gameplay

A lot of video games focus just on the stats, classes, and weapons as the key difference, but Dragon's Dogma throws in height and weight into the mix. For example, a tall and bulky character jumps higher, carries more equipment, and has a longer reach with their weapon. The downside is that the character is slow and is easier to hit because of the size. On the other hand, a short and light character is quicker, can pass through a large monster's legs, and enter narrow passages such as Goblin holes. Unfortunately, they usually have a poor reach and can be knocked down pretty easily while not being able to carry that much equipment either. Practically no other video game in the market uses a similar mechanic, making Dragon's Dogma feel really unique and fun. See More

Top Con

Limited fast travel options can be tedious

Dragon's Dogma has a very large but sparsely populated world, which means that a lot of time is spent traveling between quest objectives. There are no horses, forcing you to simply walk everywhere and the only method of getting somewhere quickly is through very costly teleports available only much later in the game. If you dislike having insane amounts of downtime, Dragon's Dogma might not be for you. See More

Top Pro

Awesome combat/hunting gameplay

The combat in Dragon's Dogma is very fast and intense. You can string together combos with swords, axes, and daggers, launch/throw enemies, shoot arrows with a bow in quick succession, and even dodge/block enemy attacks. Even the spells look absolutely amazing and feel really powerful. For example, when you cast an ice spell called Gicel, massive spears of ice will weave forth to skewer enemies. It looks like something you'd only see bosses use in other video games, making it feel that much more empowering. The enemies also play a large part in making the gameplay feel great. It will start out simple with you fighting bandits and packs of wolves on your travels, which will gradually turn into you taking on massive mythical beasts such as manticores, gryphons, cyclops, and even dragons. While in other games you'd probably just beat on their ankles until they fold onto themselves, Dragon's Dogma has a really cool grappling system that allows you to grab onto enemies and even throw them (if they're light enough). For example, if a dragon makes the mistake of lowering its tail into your reach as it rains down fire and death from up above, you can just grab onto it and climb on the dragon's back. This turns into a very intense sequence of you trying to not fall off before you drive your sword into the dragon's neck. It's the type of mechanic that makes you feel like the heroes written about in storybooks, which immensely adds to the fun and immersion. See More

Top Con

Forgettable story

The story starts out interesting but loses its steam shortly after. Hardly anything happens during the middle part of the story, the side characters feel bland, there are lots of plot holes, and the narrative starts feeling like a mess. Even the conclusion is somewhat confusing, trying too hard to be profound. If you're looking for a very good story-driven experience, you won't find that here. See More

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Top Pro

Unrestrictive skill-based RPG system

Skyrim has no set character classes or equipment/spell limitations. Instead, it allows you to form your own class based on how you decide to play. For example, sneaking increases your sneaking skill, hitting an enemy with a shortsword increases your one-handed skill, taking damage while wearing leather armor increases your light armor skill, and so forth. You can you play however you want and the resulting character will be a perfect match for your playstyle, giving Skyrim a different feel from other RPGs. See More

Top Con

Forgetful NPCs can break immersion

After completing certain story quests NPCs get new lines added to their dialogue based on your decisions. Sometimes the NPCs might become forgetful and return to their default dialogue, which can break immersion, especially if they talk about an event that's been long resolved. See More

TolerantNortia's Experience

lawda lassan See More

Specs

Genre:Fantasy Role-Playing

Top Pro

Total freedom in how you choose to play through the world's different factions

You can set off to any of Skyrim's different towns and discover new storylines from interesting factions that flesh out the world and the lore, with great characters and their own absorbing narratives to get lost in. There are a good number of these factions, like the scholars at the snowy College of Winterhold, the secretive assassins of the Dark Brotherhood, or the cohort of rogues and bandits of the Thieves Guild. After picking whichever faction you want to learn more about, you can eventually become a Master of the guild and learn new skills for your character. Playing through each of their individual stories lets you really feel like a member of the faction you choose, like with how the Thieves Guild sends you on missions to pick locks and steal valuables without getting caught by the guards. And if you only get through some of the faction's story and decide you don't enjoy it, you can easily go find another one and play through that one instead. There are no limits on how you play through the plot, with Skyrim giving you the flexibility to pick up stories, set them down, and come back to them whenever you feel like it. See More

Top Con

Combat is too simple

Most of the time you can just whack an enemy until it dies and it involves very little strategy or planning to succeed. For example, targeting specific body parts doesn't deal extra damage, nor can you cripple an enemy. There are no vulnerabilities, so you can't set furry forest animals ablaze easier than humans. The enemies also lack any real variation in how they attempt to fight you – they just run at you swinging wildly or attack you from afar. Because of this the combat is very one-dimensional and can start feeling like a chore after a while. Luckily most of the combat issues can be fixed with mods, allowing you to enjoy a more varied and deeper combat experience. See More

PerseveringAdgilisDeda's Experience

love it! See More

Top Pro

Skyrim is one of the best open world games ever made

Besides playing main story missions there's a lot to do in the world of Skyrim: you can buy homes, get married, adopt kids or you can do what seems like unlimited quests from NPCs, if you're not in the mood to do main story or if you beat the main story. If you're in a devious mood, you can rob almost anybody except only kids, but you can even break into NPC's houses or stores. If you feel like being a murderer you can be one, the only exception is you can't kill kids, but you can kill even NPCs who are not a part of the main story. Unlike Eso, you can kill guards as well. Some NPCs will require a special kill till they're officially dead, mainly sorcerers. Also, it's a big map, there's a lot of towns you can visit, and the atmosphere on the special edition of Skyrim looks amazing. Plus there's mods to download if you wanna improve your experience. Give this game a chance and you'll see why it's considered one of the best games ever made. See More

Top Con

Buggy and crash prone

While this game is not as buggy as it was upon release, there are still many people that encounter various bugs and crashes. These can happen in both modded and unmodded games and it's a common occurrence in Bethesda released titles. Fortunately, there are some community mods that try to fix most memory issues, stability issues, and general bugs. See More

Top Pro

Deep lore rivaling classic fantasy literature

Skyrim inherits the stories and world-building of The Elder Scrolls series, which stretches back 20 years. It has numerous stories surrounding the various races (orcs, elves, lizardmen, demons, etc.), mythical beasts, gods, cataclysmic events, parallel worlds, and just about any fantasy trope you could think off. What's even better you can read the lore in books found in-game, allowing you to immerse yourself for countless hours. See More

Top Pro

Massive sandbox to explore at your own pace

The in-game map is absolutely gigantic. There are so many places to go and so much to do in the world, easily giving you hundreds of hours of content. Exploring the wide range of environments, from the snowy mountains to the richly-detailed towns and cities is such a joy because of how lush and beautiful everything is. Wandering around often surprises you with new side quests to find off the beaten path, with new characters to meet and history to learn about in whichever area you find yourself in. You can get into all sorts of battles with powerful enemies or stumble into hidden dungeons with awesome loot at the end. Or you can sneak around towns at night stealing peoples' stuff while they're asleep to sell everything off for money. And there's just a ton of other intriguing secrets and fun diversions to discover as you adventure throughout the world. See More

Top Pro

So much to do in free roam

Top Pro

Huge variety of mods

Bethesda Softworks has upheld a tradition of releasing their internal content-creation tools to the public since Morrowind (2002). Many modders transition to new Bethesda games as they are released, bringing their experience with them and helping newcomers through forums and wikis. As a result, Skyrim's mod selection is outstanding in both variety and quality. See More

Gravity Rush 2

Top Pro

Gravity control makes for some interesting gameplay

Gravity Rush 2 puts you in control of a character that can control gravity, allowing you to change the direction of it. Flip the gravity upside down, you're falling into the sky now. Flip it sideways, you're zooming horizontally over the city roofs. It might take some while to get used to, but the freedom of movement makes the game really fun. See More

Top Con

The camera sometimes struggles to keep up

Because the combat is so furious in Gravity Rush 2, sometimes the camera simply can't keep up. It doesn't happen often, but it is certainly a huge annoyance when it does. See More

Top Pro

The combat is just awesome

The combat in Gravity Rush 2 is so much fun. Your character is well-versed in martial arts, but what makes it unique is that she incorporates her gravity powers in them. This allows you to float around enemies, kicking and punching them from all sides. You can also use your gravity powers to throw various objects such as trash cans or lampposts at enemies. Even though it plays very simple as a whole, the various enemies, mini-bosses, and bosses each require a slightly different approach in battling them, allowing the combat to stay exciting right until the ending credits. See More

Top Con

The stealth missions are a pain

Gravity Rush 2 occasionally has stealth missions, which aren't any fun at all. If you get spotted even once you have to start over. This wouldn't be so bad if the game had any stealth mechanics at all. You're just stuck using your gravity powers and regular movement, hoping the enemies won't spot you, which makes it feel tacked on and unpleasant. See More

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

Top Pro

Truly an open world game

Ghost Recon Wildlands lets you do anything you want, any time you want. You can rush right toward the final boss if you decide to. You can complete missions by blowing people up with drones from a safe distance, or by storming the gates. Do the missions you want to, leave others to rot. Everything is up to you. The landscape is vast, and if you can see it, you can probably get to it. This allows you to experience the gorgeous environments through exploration. There are also rewards for exploring, such as new weapons or upgrades, giving you more goals to strive for. See More

Top Con

Weapon customization limited and tedious

BrilliantHaurvatat's Experience

Fantastic tactical game,so addictive,once you get into it yiu wont put it down See More

Specs

Top Pro

Rarely a dull moment

Whether you're whipping around on a dirt bike toward your next mission, or storming a fort with your team, you're constantly in motion. Even though you can slow down a bit should you choose to, the game encourages a faster-paced experience and makes it a ton of fun. See More

Top Con

The enemy AI has only one setting

The AI in this game will consistently push toward the player. Essentially all you've got to do is get them into a corridor or other narrow space and mow them down. See More

Top Pro

Detailed environments provide great immersion

Ghost Recon Wildlands is set in Bolivia, and the game makes you feel like you're really there. It's one of the most varied places on earth, and each area feels wildly different from the next. It ranges from lush, green forests, to barren deserts, to both urban and rural cities. The distinct feel, architecture, and culture of Bolivia will serve to pull you even deeper into the game. See More

Top Con

The cover system is terrible

When you bump into terrain, you take cover behind it. While the theory behind this is fine, the execution is very unreliable and clunky. Even when it manages to work, cover offers little to no protection from your enemy. See More

Top Pro

Great customization

In Ghost Recon Wildlands, the customization is not limited to just character facial features. It also has an extensive customization system for weapons and clothes. When creating a character you can set the face, gender, hair, hat, top, tattoos, pants, and shoes. All of these can be changed in the loadout menu at any point in-game. You can also modify your weapons and gear extensively. When you begin customizing a weapon, it will split into pieces, letting you select and adjust each one. This includes triggers, sights, scopes, grips, stocks, barrels, and any other attachment. You can also change the colors and designs of both weapons and gear. It really lets you play exactly the way you want to, which is always more satisfying. See More

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Top Pro

Lots of interesting characters and lore

The characters in Dragon Age: Inquisition are great, with intriguing backstories that delve into the game's lore. Early on, you meet a couple of once-high-ranking members of the Templar Order, like Cullen, who isn't a playable character, but serves as your military adviser instead. He previously fought back against the corruption in the templar ranks, and now wants to help you on your journey to unite an army against evil forces. Another interesting character is the elf named Solas, a playable mage who knows a lot of information about the world. He acts as your guide, providing you with intriguing lore about the places you visit, like the Fade, a mystical realm filled with spirits and demons. Even though he seems one-note in his role as a dispenser of information, has some hidden depth to him that may end up surprising you. All of the characters have layered personalities that fit with the lore surrounding them. See More

Top Con

Forgettable multiplayer riddled with awful microtransactions

It's easy to forget that the multiplayer in this game exists. The developers basically tacked it on, taking the same single-player combat and changing it to horde mode for a multiplayer environment. It's the same type of combat over and over again with no meaningful progression. The microtransactions are abhorrent, some of them costing an arm and a leg just to get you ahead in a multiplayer that hardly anyone plays or cares about. This mode is such a blatant cash grab that you're likely better off avoiding. See More

LikableThor's Experience

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Tactical Role-Playing

Top Pro

You get to feel like a commander in combat and in the story

As the Inquisitor, you're the focal point of a huge movement to wage an army against the main villain. You're in charge of a ton of things: fortifying your base of operations, scouting for intel and resources, crafting gear, managing your companions in battle, picking which story decisions are most beneficial to your cause, and more. Besides controlling your own character during the real-time combat, you can control any of your team members, which gives you access to their diverse range of skills and tools to deal with any situation. If your Inquisitor can't heal, for example, then you can switch to a character like Solas who can take care of your party's wounds on your orders. You can also pause the action by bringing up the tactical radial menu, where you take your time to assign where you want your characters to go and which enemies to focus on. Story missions revolve around picking sides during conflicts that benefit your army the most, such as siding with the templars against the mages in order to have them with you for the final battle, at the cost of possibly angering your teammates who disagree with your choices . It's up to you to decide the best course of action and deal with any possible consequences. There is a lot to keep track of, but these decisions give you plenty of agency, helping you feel like your decisions and directions matter. See More

Top Con

Overwhelming amount to do at start of game

After the prologue, you arrive to the Hinterlands: a massive level with way too much to explore. Even though it's great that the open world is so big, you pretty much get dropped off in the Hinterlands without enough direction or guidance. The game just tells you to look around and find the next story quest, which can be overwhelming in the first few hours. It would have been better if you had the chance to get eased into the expansive feel of the maps first. See More

Top Pro

Building relationships with companions is enjoyable

There are a few neat ways you can build relationships with your party members and non-playable war advisers. These aren't limited to just romance options -- you can spend time with characters to become better friends with them, too. Improving your approval rating with characters comes down to picking certain dialog options, either to flirt with them or agree with their worldview. Doing unique side quests to help with a character's personal matters unrelated to the main story also goes a long way toward showing that you care about them, letting you see more of a character's intricate backstory and motivations. After building up enough approval, you get a special scene with your romance option or friend, and afterward you can return whenever you want to spend more time with them. It's a really good system that lets you feel like the characters are your actual comrades, helping you grow more attached to them throughout the game's long story. See More

Top Con

Too much meaningless content

Most of the content outside of the main quest and companion quests amounts to the collect-a-thons you'd find in a Ubisoft open world game. This does nothing but pad an already overly long game to a horrifyingly unwieldy length. See More

Top Pro

Tons of content

There's lots of content in Dragon Age: Inquisition that can keep you playing for a long time. The game offers a very long main story, with even more side quests and hidden areas that can take many hours to complete. The main story has plenty of branching decisions that affect how your playthrough turns out, encouraging you to play the game twice or more to see the different outcomes. Exploring the open world for the epic dragon slaying side quests is a great challenge with cool-looking fights and amazing loot. For those looking for a game to sink 60+ hours into, this is a good choice. See More

Top Con

Stiff and repetitive character animations during cutscenes

Character animations are incredibly stiff in ways that look robotic. During cutscenes, you'll see the same types of movements over and over, like a character shifting their waist back and bobbing their head to seem important or defiant, or moving their head down with their words to make a point. If there were more variation with the animations instead, then the stiff delivery might not be all that bad. See More

Top Pro

The areas you discover are huge

The areas in Dragon Age: Inquisition are simply monstrous. The world is divided into separate maps that are each gigantic worlds on their own. From the sprawling hills and valleys in the Hinterlands to the expansive snowy ruins of Emprise du Lion, every level has tons of outposts, environmental challenges to solve such as leaks of hazardous gas or broken bridges, side quests to discover, and people to talk to in order to learn more about the world and the lore. All of this is amazing for people that enjoy exploring and making new discoveries. See More

Top Con

Slow combat animations

The combat animations can often be really slow. This causes problems, like when an attack's animation takes too long to finish, and you're left second guessing whether or not the attack will go off at all. You have to wait for the animations to play out, which can be troublesome if your aim is off or the enemy moves. This takes away from the combat's strategic play, leaving you open to attack while you wait for the animations to sort themselves out. See More

Top Con

Generic villain drags the story down

The main villain, Corypheus, is so bland and unremarkable that he worsens the entire story. He's a darkspawn, a type of demon enemy in the Dragon Age lore, hell-bent on bringing ruin to the world for reasons that aren't all that compelling. He doesn't have much of a personality beyond his evil tendencies, turning him into more of a caricature. If you've seen any old generic Hollywood movie with an evil villain, then you know all there is to see with Corypheus. He's such a safe and boring villain that he bogs down the narrative, making most of the twists and turns predictable and uneventful. See More

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Top Pro

Entertaining combat

Shadow of Mordor has very fast-paced combat, allowing you to have exciting fights with groups of orcs. You parry, you counter, you roll, and you slash away at the orcs with your sword. You even have supernatural abilities that give you an edge in a bad situation. For example, after stunning an enemy with Wraith Stun, you can perform a devastating combo that kills the enemy. The same ability can be upgraded to affect every enemy in an area, so it can also be used to escape losing battles or exact justice on all of them. Regardless of your methods, you always feel like the dominant force, which makes it all the more satisfying to ruthlessly skewer helpless orcs. See More

Top Con

Extremely repetitive

The game can begin to feel like a chore after 3 hours. Every area has the same missions, requiring you to unlock towers, kill/dominate that orc, or defend/attack a base. There isn't much change over the course of the game, so it can feel pretty disappointing if you're expecting more variety. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Enjoyable preparation element

Bosses in this game have different immunities and weaknesses to in-game skills. For example, a boss can be immune to takedowns, but can also be vulnurable to fire, so it's best to have a flame-infused weapon ready to fight him effectively. This makes preparation very important to succeed, sometimes even requiring you to mix up your playstyle and fighting methods. Because every enemy requires a different approach, it can help the gameplay stay fresh for a longer time. See More

Top Con

Progressing through the storyline can be confusing

While excessive hand-holding in games is bad, you might get lost in this game with no idea what to do next. This is mostly because the game almost never tells you what you should be doing, so it's up to you to find out, which can sometimes result in you aimlessly running around an area for up to an hour. Anyone looking for a more directed experience might not like Shadow of Mordor that much. See More

Top Pro

Great stealth combat mechanics

In Shadow of Mordor there are various ways you can kill enemies while staying unnoticed. You can simply sneak around by staying low, breaking line of sight behind walls and carts, backstabbing orcs when you sneak up on them. You can climb walls and traverse building roofs, dropping onto unsuspecting orcs while impaling them. You can even use supernatural abilities or wait for nightfall to make you even stealthier. All of this coupled with Shadow of Mordor's very smooth controls, makes being stealthy really enjoyable. See More

Top Con

Unskippable cutscenes interrupt gameplay

Every time an orc leader enters the screen, there is an unskippable cutscene where he rambles a bit, focusing the camera on him and halting combat until the cutscene ends. This usually happens as you're fighting another enemy, potentially disrupting your rhythm, which can be really frustrating, especially if mess up your combo or take an unnecessary hit after the cutscene. See More

Top Pro

Mind control mechanic that adds depth to tactics

Players can mind control orcs to call upon them in battle, turning a one-vs-many battle, into a more evenly balanced showdown. You can even use your makeshift allies as fodder, allowing you to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies in the heat of battle and take them out instantly. It's up to you to decide when and how to use the orcs, giving the battles a decent amount of tactical depth. See More

Fallout 4

Top Pro

Huge world with loads of content

The world of Fallout 4 is massive so there's quite a lot to do. Many areas to explore, tons of quests to complete, and lots of collectibles to find. There's easily enough content to keep you playing for over a hundred hours. See More

Top Con

The dialogue choices are confusing

Most of the dialogue choices will only show a few words that don't actually reflect what your character is gonna say. This creates a disconnect between you and your character, making it seem like you don't control what your character is gonna say at any point. See More

Specs

Genre:Action RPG

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Interesting settlement management

In Fallout 4 you can set up thriving communities in various locations. You'll have to provide the settlers with housing, bedding, water, food, and protection. Over time you'll be able to establish trade routes between the settlements and expand into an empire spanning the entire territory of Fallout 4. This really gives it the feeling like you're trying to rebuild society, which is a welcome change in a post-apocalyptic game. See More

Top Con

Occasional bugs

There are bugs in the game that users will run into. While most are not game breaking, it can detract from the experience. See More

Top Pro

Solid gunplay with an interesting twist

The gunplay plays so well it almost feels like a pure FPS. You can shoot from the hip, aim down the sights/scope, or even just run and gun. However, what makes Fallout 4 stand out is VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). When you activate VATS, the time slows down to a crawl, allowing you to mark body parts of enemies. When you execute it your character will automatically shoot the marked body parts. This is very useful for getting out of tight spots, allowing you to instantly clear groups of enemies or kill a really tough enemy charging at you. It also has the benefit of making you feel like an expert gunman, even if your aim isn't that great. See More

Top Con

Pipboy UI feels unpleasant to use

When you open your Pipboy (a personal computer that manages your quests, inventory, character data, etc) the screen containing the useful information only covers about a fourth of the entire screen. As a result some of the elements are too crammed, requiring a lot of scrolling. This can be really annoying if you're trying to find something in a list of 100 items. See More

Top Pro

Addictive to collect loot

You can pick up most of the stuff you see laying around in Fallout 4. Every item, including weapons and armors, can be broken down into reusable crafting materials. This makes it hard to stop yourself from going around and collecting everything in sight because everything has a purpose. You can also find unique versions of equipment on the corpses of legendary enemies. Each of these items has an additional effect such as speed boost or extra damage. This may cause you to constantly pick fights you'll probably lose, but it's worth it once you get your hands on that extremely good piece of equipment. See More

Top Pro

Deep perk/skill system

Fallout 4 has a great selection of perks centered on surviving in the wasteland. You'll gain a point each time you level up, allowing you to select one of the perks. The perks can give you an increase to your sneaking ability, improve your lockpicking skills, or even add unique effects such as causing bullets fired by enemies to ricochet back and killing them. There's easily enough variation to make multiple playthroughs feel fresh and exciting. To make it even better, if you don't like multiple playthroughs, you can just unlock every single perk on a single character, albeit with a much longer playtime. See More

Top Pro

You can adjust equipment to suit your playstyle

In Fallout 4 you have a lot of options when modifying your equipment, giving you a chance to make equipment that matches your playstyle. You can take an assault rifle and change most of its parts. Each part you can change has an upside and a downside to it. For example, adding a long range scope would make the rifle useless in close quarters, but it would be great for pick off targets from afar. You can also tailor your armors for various situations. You can lower the weight or add pockets to make carrying loot easier. Or you can add additional linings or padding to gain increased protection against various hazards such as radiation. See More

Top Pro

Great storyline

The main story has a very personal theme of family and revenge, featuring a main character looking for their lost son in a post-apocalyptic version of Boston. The side-quests also provide a decent backdrop, expanding on some of the plot elements of the main story. There are many twists and mysteries, but the narrative remains coherent throughout the story, creating a very enjoyable experience. See More

Top Pro

Addicting building mechanic

One of the more interesting parts of managing your settlement is the house building aspect. There are various preset houses you can put down quickly, but you can make large structures entirely from scratch, starting with the foundation and ending with the roof of a 10 story building. While there are some constraints such as limited building area, you can really let your imagination loose, allowing you to spend countless hours on it. See More

Top Pro

Companions can help make the game a little easier

There are a bunch of companions to find in the game, starting with Dogmeat, the dog. Each companion has their own skills that can help you. For example, Dogmeat can dig up hidden items and bring them to you. They can also distract the enemy, causing the combat to be a little easier since all the attention won't be on just you. The only real downside is that you can only use one companion at a time, but you can easily swap them out. Using a companion is not mandatory either, so if you prefer the added challenge you can travel without a companion. See More

Top Pro

Great selection of mods

You can can find all sorts of mods at the Bethesda website, giving you the freedom to change the parts of the game you don't like. This includes interface adjustments, graphical improvements, additional quests, and many other things. See More

Top Pro

Diverse enemy types keep the gameplay exciting

There a lot of different enemies found in the game such as super mutants, feral ghouls, robots, mutated wildlife, and many others. All of them have their unique behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, robots often use heavy weaponry such as rocket launchers and lasers, making it really hard to deal with them. Fortunately enough, they're very vulnerable to EMP grenades and can also be hacked. Another example are the feral ghouls that will almost always charge at you. They can surround you really fast, clawing away at your health and affecting you with radiation, but they lack any intelligence. So if you plant mines infront of you and attract them with gunshots, they'll lose their legs in the minefield, leaving them at your mercy. The various enemy types and methods you can fight them with keeps the gameplay fresh for a long time. See More

Assassin's Creed Origins

Top Pro

A vibrant and enticing world

AC Origins story unfolds in a pretty rare setting of Ancient Egypt under the rule of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. The world feels alive and atmospheric with its diverse scenery and it just begs to be explored. You can run through bustling monumental cities, traverse the vast sandy deserts on the back of a camel or a horse, get some rest in a lush green palm tree-lined oasis, float down the Nile in a little dinghy - all this moving around rewards you with breathtaking and sometimes unexpected views, be it a golden pyramid or a rampaging horde of hippos. The map is massive, but it doesn't feel overwhelming because the movement is fast-paced, so much so that you can easily choose to avoid fast-travel. The setting, especially in the cities with their marble palaces, hieroglyph-covered obelisks, and sandstone monuments, lends itself well to the usual for Assassin's Creed climbing and free running. See More

Top Con

Unreliable features may get in the way of combat

The fast-paced battles can be even harder due to some features not working reliably. For example, you can lock on a specific target in a group, and that works well for sneaky bow attacks, but in close combat there's an issue with switching between the targets. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-adventure RPG, Stealth

Controller Support:Partial

Top Pro

Choose from a variety of stealth tricks

While sneaking around in AC Origins is mostly simple crouching in the bushes and hiding behind the trees or buildings, the stealthy killing and distraction part is really varied and fun. For instance, you can get the Predator Bow that lets you remotely steer your arrows after firing them, even get them to turn around a corner. The natural day/night cycle encourages you to use the darkness to hide your approach and take on the guards when there are likely less of them awake. You can also use sleep and poison darts, or open the enclosures of the animals so that they create distractions and even attack your enemies. You can even take control of your pet eagle and scout an area beforehand, allowing you to mark enemies. When control returns to your character, you'll be able to see the marks even through walls. See More

Top Pro

Interesting stories make questing fun

Like in most RPGs, the quests in AC Origins can feel a little grindy, but this time you might not even notice it until you're deep into the game. Each quest is layered and wrapped in a different story, which adds to the overall lore of the game and hides the fact that it's still your basic "go kill the bad guy" or "get me this amount of that thing". A quite straightforward-looking quest might turn out to be anything but. See More

Top Pro

Challenging combat mechanics

The combat mechanics in this game require much more thinking-through than in the previous AC games. There's almost no chance to easily defeat multiple enemies at once, you need to block, parry, and know when to change your weapon. You have the ability to either deal a huge one-hit blow or supercharge your weapon by maxing out an adrenaline bar. See More

No Man's Sky

Top Pro

Freedom to choose how you want to play

Ally with factions, trade or just be a pirate. When trading with NPC aliens, you build up a positive reputation with the faction they belong to. Alternatively you can also be hostile and attack trade ships, or even be attacked by NPC pirate spaceships. Both can be ways to get what you need, so do whatever suits your play style. See More

Top Con

No clearly defined missions

The objective of the game is to ultimately reach the center of the galaxy. However, the player is completely free and unguided from the beginning. You figure it out for yourself as you start mining, crafting and upgrading your ship and gear. This game doesn't have a big story to tell. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure, Survival

Top Pro

Massive galaxy to explore

Thanks to the fact that the entire galaxy of No Man's Sky is procedurally generated, the amount of planets to explore is almost endless. The number of planets would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,616. However, the fact that 2 players managed to find each other in game on the first day, seems to make this number quite questionable. See More

Top Pro

Endless procedural generation

This game procedurally generates almost everything. Your spaceships are procedurally generated, so are the planets, moons, every animal on these planets, the resource nodes, trade routes, languages, etc. When discovering new species or planets, players get to rename these and leave their mark on the galaxy. See More

Top Pro

Good graphics

The art style of this game is very colorful and saturated and uses hues in a way that it gives you an otherworldly feel. Graphics like these tend to remain good for a much longer time than classic 3D graphics. See More

Mad Max

Top Pro

Fun sandbox

The game is based around being an open world sandbox where the player is free to do anything they like. See More

Top Con

No sense of urgency

While all of the gameplay takes place in a wasteland, there is no real sense of immediacy as the player is not ever going to starve or run out of water. This can pull the player out of the game due to not being very realistic and is pretty much geared towards keeping the game easy for casual players. Surviving in a wasteland should be tough, sadly it is not that difficult to do here. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Character progression is fun.

Unlocking upgrades and items/beard length can be fun. See More

Top Con

Simplistic combat

Just as in other WB games the combat is simple and easy where in the player hits buttons timed with what button ques are flashing above an enemies head. Realistically one could just bash two buttons and make it through the games fights pretty easily. See More

Top Pro

Vehicle combat is the best part of the game

While there are fighting sections of the game where Max is on foot, the most exciting and fun to play sections are where Max is driving. Having a grappling hook to hook onto enemies while driving is a very fun thing to do as well as using it to pull down buildings and structures and this is just one of the elements of driving that makes all the driving parts stand out. See More

Õkami HD

Top Pro

Large, enchanting, and atmospheric world

Õkami, though not an open-world game, still has a vast map, consisting of seven regions and numerous subregions. You have an opportunity to explore all of Japan and experience everything the country has to offer, going from tall dense forests, over the picturesque coasts, to frosty mountains. Along the way, you’ll find history, rooted in Japanese mythology, and you'll meet a lot of imaginative characters. Some of them might only keep you company for a few missions, but you still get invested in their stories and development. See More

Top Con

Long unskippable cutscene at the start

Right at the start, there is a ~18-minute long, slow cutscene that you can't skip. Later there are some more cutscenes, but these can be fast-forwarded through. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Unusual and one-of-a-kind combat methods

Throughout the game, you can use three types of melee weapons: mirrors, rosaries, and swords. Each one can be used to weave combos in tandem with your character's acrobatic movements, smashing or slashing the demons you encounter. The real highlight of Õkami, however, are the paintbrush techniques, which can be used for attacking enemies or manipulating the environment. You simply select your paintbrush, which slows the game's speed to a crawl, allowing you to draw anywhere on the screen. For example, drawing a single line over a demon or object will slash it, drawing a circle in the sky will cause the sun to rise, and drawing a path from a body of water will create a waterspout. You don’t need to draw the lines perfectly, it is enough to roughly match the required drawing. It's a really fun and creative way of fighting normally not seen in games. See More

Top Con

Indiscernible dialogue voice-over can be grating

The voice-over was done by actors actually saying the text that's shown in the dialogue box, but then the recording was speeded up and resulted in a cartoon-like gibberish. These high-pitched voices can become quite annoying over the 40-60 hours of gameplay, luckily, the voice-over can be turned off in the settings. See More

Top Pro

A lot of different activities

Apart from the main storyline (curing the Demon-cursed areas by looking for guardian sprouts and letting them bloom), there are ample employment opportunities – characters in this mythological Japan need all kinds of help, so you'll get a lot of missions and sidequests. The paintbrush techniques get a lot of use in these missions as well, for solving riddles and puzzles. You might need to win a race to get a guard's mask back to him, look for a lost bunny, or defeat a bunch of demons so that a drunk guy could keep his name as the best warrior in the land. Or you can just fish or feed cute animals. Some sidequests need to be at least partly done to move the story along, some of them are totally optional. However, every good deed restores your status as a God: if you do good in the game, you get points, which can then be used to increase your health or the amount of ink you can carry, and that keeps the player motivated. See More

Top Pro

Unique and breathtakingly beautiful art style

The unusual art style takes inspiration from traditional Japanese woodblock paintings, called Ukiyo-e. Crisp black contour lines and explosions of color after successfully bringing back life into the world give a constant impression of being inside a work of art: every tree, every building, and every figure looks like it was painted with ink. See More

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Top Pro

Rising up in society from a peasant is a unique experience

Kingdom Come: Deliverance puts you in the shoes of an unremarkable commoner named Henry with few skills or specialties, giving you the opportunity to enrich his life and abilities however you see fit. You don't start off as a powerful fighter like in so many other games, and you don't even have the most basic ability to read. Instead, you have to start from scratch to learn how to do anything and everything in the game, from fighting to reading and plenty more, with people looking down on you while you're still unskilled. As you become better at fighting, you can earn a full suit of plate armor, rising up from the ranks of peasantry to a skilled knight, with NPCs treating you with more respect in response to your accomplishments. It's a wonderfully realistic approach to role-playing that isn't afraid to make you claw your way up and improve your lot in life. See More

Top Con

Game-breaking bugs can corrupt your save file

The game is filled with bugs that could potentially cost you hours of playtime. Your save file could get corrupted, forcing you to start the game over from scratch. It's incredibly frustrating and has been an ongoing problem since release, keeping quite a few players from progressing. Thankfully, the developers are working on ironing out this issue through patches. See More

LogicalMengPo's Experience

The combat system takes a while to get used, but is very realistic. Also the first few hours of gameplay will be pretty slow moving but once you get passed that you become immersed in a gripping story line, as you rise through society. Since you start as a peasant you have to learn every skill from scratch, (even how to read). There are a few glitches and bugs ( like buildings missing) which can get annoying, but overall this is a great game See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

NPCs react differently to you under certain circumstances

With the many organic and grounded systems in Kingdom Come: Deliverance that mirror real life, how you present yourself to the world has an impact on how people react to you. If you haven't bathed in a few days and you smell badly, some female NPCs might find your manly odor attractive, while others will show their disgust with you instead. As another example, when you're a mere peasant at the start of the game, you won't have much stature or influence, so certain people will either ignore you or talk down to you. But as you grow strong enough to equip a knight's armor, NPCs will trust you more and reveal information to you that they otherwise wouldn't have. It's a great system that truly leans into the game's role-playing elements, making you feel like Henry represents you as a person. See More

Top Con

The game feels unpolished overall with smaller bugs and story pacing issues

Despite Kingdom Come: Deliverance's immersive and innovative systems, there are a bunch of other, smaller bugs throughout the game, as well as some pacing issues that ruin the flow of the gameplay. You're likely to come across invisible walls in places such as stairs that you have to jump over, and other issues like NPCs missing their heads, or being stuck in a T-pose as they float across the map. Story-wise, the last sections of the game are a slog; they really could have benefited from more work and polish dedicated to them. As a whole, the game could have used some more time in the oven before releasing, since all the bugs and pacing issues really degrade the whole quality of the experience. See More

Top Pro

Vastly different ways to play the game

Depending on which skills you choose to master, your playthrough can be incredibly different from other players who chose to specialize in other abilities instead. There isn't much of a limit to how strong or proficient you can become in any one specialty, giving you the opportunity to be the best at whatever you set your mind to. You could spend most of your playtime perfecting your skills at hand-to-hand and sword combat, growing strong enough to storm enemy strongholds and kill anyone who crosses your path. Or you can become a master thief instead, improving your lockpicking and stealing skills enough to break into any store or building to amass tons of riches--on the condition that you also learn how to not get caught, of course. It's not likely that two people will have the exact same playthrough were they focus on the same specialties. See More

Top Con

Brutal learning curve at the beginning of the game

Since you start the game at rock bottom as a peasant, you have to learn your skills the hard way, including with combat. You'll have to earn your skills by learning as you go along, but because you start with nothing, it's all too easy to fail at even the most basic encounters you come across. Sword fights and fist fights will really punish you while your skills are low, and you'll probably end up dying way too many times for your liking. If you stick with it, you'll be able to get by, but the difficulty curve might put some players off entirely. See More

Top Pro

You learn and level up skills in organic, realistic ways

Instead of leveling up in traditional ways with the usual experience points, Kingdom Come: Deliverance has a much more organic approach to the ways you can grow your character. Playing as the protagonist Henry, you'll need to practice your skills in areas such as sword play, fist fighting, alchemy, and even reading. Just like in real life, as you fight more, craft more, and read more, you'll improve in ways that feel like you're actually learning as you go. You're illiterate when you begin the game, gradually retaining letters and words as you keep practicing. It's a refreshing system that helps you feel like you're really getting better at the skills you work on the most. See More

Top Con

Optimization issues on consoles and lower-end PCs

For those playing on a launch PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, as well as an older PC, you might have issues with the game's framerate. Framerate drops are common throughout the game, possibly ruining your experience from time to time. If you're on PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X, or you have a more high-end PC, then you shouldn't have too many problems with performance. See More

NieR: Automata

Top Pro

Unique storytelling with a real emotional impact

NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is incredibly special. To get the full experience, you have to run multiple playthroughs of the game, each of which offers a new experience and perspective. Your world view of the story events and characters expands drastically as you complete each playthrough, playing on your expectations to help you develop a deeper emotional bond with the protagonists and become invested in their plight. Things take a real turn on your third playthrough, putting you on an emotional roller coaster all the way to the true ending. The plot twists and knocks on the fourth wall elevate the story to a truly unique place. Getting all the way to the very end can be a religious experience from how much heart and meaning you discover in the symbolism. See More

Top Con

Second playthrough can get repetitive

Once you get to Route B, your second playthrough, you may find that too much is the same. There are some big differences, such as the new way you get to see things play out, but a lot of it rehashes Route A, your first playthrough. There's a ton of hacking you have to do as well, which gets pretty boring after repeating it over and over again. But if you stick with it, Route C and onward are absolutely worth the time spent getting to that point. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

It's got a hauntingly beautiful environment

NieR: Automata is set in a post-apocalyptic landscape after Earth has been overrun by hostile machines, and the artists really nailed what that would feel like. Abandoned and overgrown cities litter the landscape along with old refineries, graveyards, and eerie forests. When you add the beautiful soundtrack to the experience, it fills you with a bittersweet mix of loneliness and hope. See More

Top Con

Some boring fetch quests

The pacing gets messed up when you're forced to run certain fetch quests near the start of the game. This is somewhat forgivable after the fun and action-packed introductory level, but the quests themselves are still a drag to play through. Some of the side quests can also boil down to the same thing. Even though these quests give a lot of useful information about the world, they're not all that fulfilling, and you may dread having to repeat them when playing through the game again. See More

Top Pro

An incredible amount of content

Outside of the main story, there's plenty of optional content to dive into. The side quests are the best way to get to know the characters and lore of the world, with some of them giving clever and subtle foreshadowing of the game's most critical events. There are also weapons to collect and upgrade, each of which offer nice little tidbits of lore after you get them to max level. And after reaching a certain point in the story, you get access to Chapter Select that lets you go back and replay whatever you want. You can easily spend 60+ hours exploring the world and still have much more to do. See More

Top Con

Buggy on PC

Some players complain about the game crashing, freezing, their save files mysteriously disappearing, and more. As of June 2018, over a year after the game's initial release, there is still no patch to fix these problems. Not everyone on PC will have these bugs, but it's still quite prevalent. If you continually run into issues, your best bet is to find a mod or play the console versions instead of waiting on an official patch that may never happen. See More

Top Pro

Varied genre-spanning gameplay elements

NieR: Automata has different types of gameplay to keep things interesting. From the very start, you're on an on-rails bullet hell section, and then you switch over to the more traditional action RPG style of fast-paced combat. Things change up again not long after with some side-scrolling platforming from a 2D view. Later on in the story, there's a hacking mini-game where you navigate a tiny ship through a short puzzle, with the music changing to a charming retro sound to fit the theme and mood. This is a game that doesn't stay boxed in a single genre. See More

Top Con

Limited open world

Even though NieR: Automata is technically an open world game, it doesn't always feel like it. It's more that there's a big open space in the center of the ruined city you explore, with branches that lead off to vastly different environments, like a desert, a village, and a few other places. These locations aren't that spacious, either, and it's a bit of a stretch to even imagine all of these places being so close together in the first place. It's not too much of an issue as long as you find the story and combat engaging enough. See More

Top Pro

Gorgeous, ethereal soundtrack with amazing vocals

NieR: Automata's music is out of this world. It's so stunning and elegant in a way that nothing else can really live up to. The soundtrack manages to emotionalize the game through music, from the action-packed tracks with hard-hitting wind instruments and percussion, to the softer, somber songs that encapsulate the hauntingly beautiful environments and story moments you encounter. Vocals in the lore's indescribable language makes the music even more memorable, adding to the ethereal quality of the sound. This soundtrack is definitely one that you can go back to again and again without getting sick of it. See More

Top Pro

Fast-paced, action-packed combat

The combat in NieR: Automata is fantastic. It has a hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and showy acrobatics. With the fluid and responsive controls, you can switch seamlessly from using swift attacks with your weapon to devastatingly strong attacks as you combo them together. You also use customizable ranged missile attacks from your personal robot pod, such as powerful laser beams or a giant hammer attack. It can be difficult to win battles sometimes, especially on the harder gameplay settings, but it's worthwhile to keep at it and watch yourself progress and improve. See More

Far Cry 5

Top Pro

Unique open world setting in rural America

The fictional location of Hope County, Montana in rural America is a new type of setting that looks realistic and works well for the game. It's a modern version of Montana with people who look like real residents of the area, and a bunch of small, shoddy buildings everywhere that are spread out across farmlands and forests. Not many games are set in these types of places, making this setting a breath of fresh air. See More

Top Con

The story is unfocused

Gameplay comes first in Far Cry 5 at the cost of a story that doesn't have much direction. The plot is disjointed because of how scattered the missions are in between your open world shenanigans. This might not be a problem for players who care more about gameplay, but anyone else who wants a meaty, polished story will probably be disappointed. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure, First-Person Shooter

Co-Op:Two-Player Online

Top Pro

You can explore however you want while still making story progress

You have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want while still making progress with the story as you go. You're part of the Resistance against the game's violent cult, so you get what are called resistance points every time you take out one of their bases, kill a group you find out in the open, or just disrupt their operations in any way you can. Once you get enough points, that triggers the next boss in the story. This means can go wherever you want on the map right from the start without worrying about "falling behind" with the main plot. It's a cool system that really puts the open world gameplay first. See More

Top Con

Your character is only an avatar without much presence

You can choose whether to have a male or female character, and you'll get to customize their clothes, but that's about everything you can do to make them feel like someone. Other characters just call you Deputy while they do all the talking, like filling you in on plot details and reacting to the story's events. You're very removed from the plot without getting to make any real decisions, like you're only along for the ride more than anything. See More

Top Pro

Chaotic and destructive gameplay

The gameplay in Far Cry 5 is filled with firefights and tons of chaos everywhere. You have all types of guns, vehicles, and explosives that you can use in any situation, and so do your enemies, meaning every fight has bullets flying everywhere and explosions going off all over the place. You can do things like shooting down enemy helicopters and blowing up enemy bases whenever you want. Seeing the destruction everywhere you go is a lot of fun. See More

Top Pro

You can co-op the whole campaign with a friend

You can bring a friend along with you for the single-player campaign through co-op. It's a great way to have fun with a friend if you don't want to play a dedicated multiplayer game. Just note your progress will only be saved to the host's playthrough, so the guest won't be able to continue alone from where the two of you left off. See More

Top Pro

Your teammates have cool specialties to help you with missions

You get to choose which of your teammates to bring along for missions, each with their own different specialties. You have regular human teammates who have their own weapons like stealthy bows and arrows or powerful rocket launchers, but then you also have three animals to choose from. There's a dog that runs ahead and marks enemies for you, a cougar that takes down enemies with stealth kills, and a huge bear that tears at anything in its path. If you want to take a certain approach for a mission, your teammate's specialty can help you out. See More

Top Pro

Gives you alot to do

You can start missions at your own will. See More

Conan Exiles

Top Pro

A great deal of fun to play with your friends

In Conan Exiles, you're able to team up with people and build cities, or even empires if your group is large enough to make it happen. You're also able to do things that simply couldn't happen as a solo player, like waging war on enemy cities, pooling resources to expand your territory quickly, or making group expeditions to find rare resources. As much fun as the game is by yourself, it really shines when you've got a few friends to team up with to take on the world. See More

Top Con

Not suitable for younger players

Conan Exiles contains nudity and a lot of gore. See More

UpbeatNidaba's Experience

Specs

Genre:Survival, Sandbox

Top Pro

Extensive crafting system that encourages player interaction

Crafting in Conan Exiles is essentially the name of the game. There are hundreds of items available to craft, and even though it may seem a little daunting at first, the process is very intuitive. You're able to do most things right from your inventory screen with no added help, and other things are deliberately pointed out as needing other amenities to be able to craft them. As you level up, you acquire "knowledge points," allowing you to learn how to craft new things. However, one person can't possibly know how to craft everything in the game. This system is perfect for making players either raid others for the goods they need, or team up and work with people to get further in their quest for survival. See More

Top Con

The game feels unfinished and unpolished

Even though Conan Exiles is no longer in early access, there are a lot of flaws here and there that add up over time. You have plenty of freedom to roam around, but there's no real sense of progression or a focused storyline. Some areas in the open world just have a bunch of enemies to kill for the sake of killing them. You may also lag a lot, with your character warping around as you try to move. On their own, these things wouldn't be such a big deal, but they really do become a pain as the problems start to stack up. See More

Top Pro

Exploring the world is fun

There are several different biomes in Conan Exiles. Barren wastelands, harsh deserts, sparkling rivers, and haunted forests are just a few of the ones you'll encounter, but you'll want to get out there and really explore the environment. Every biome holds different secrets to discover and, more importantly, different materials so you can craft new stuff, which is always satisfying. Exploring also lets you scout out enemies that you plan to attack, find new areas you want to settle, or even make new friends to cohabit the area with. You'll have to explore whether you want to or not, but Conan Exiles makes it very enjoyable by making sure it's a rewarding experience. See More

Top Con

Joining a server for online play can be problematic

If the multiplayer servers are full, then you're out of luck. So far, there's no user-friendly functions like queues or notifications to help you out. You're stuck with spamming attempts to join a server or rejoin if you get kicked out for whatever reason. It would have been nice to have some helpful features to ease this process along. See More

Top Pro

The combat is fast-paced and brutal

In Conan Exiles you play as an exiled warrior, so it's no wonder that you know how to fight. You play in first-person and wield a large array of weapons in order to destroy your enemies. Combat often ends quickly, with decapitations, limbs flying everywhere, and blood spattered on the ground. You can even sacrifice your enemies to the gods in order to gain power if you want to. If you like brutality, Conan Exiles has it in spades. See More

Top Pro

The developers are very interactive with the community

The developers of Conan Exiles do their best to maintain regular and transparent communication with the players, actively seeking feedback, requests, and ideas in order to make the game better. See More

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Top Pro

Freedom in approaching a mission

Metal Gear Solid V gives players multiple choices on how to approach a mission. You can choose to use stealth, taking out enemies only when it's absolutely necessary. You can run in guns blazing, killing everyone on sight. You can get on a high vantage point and take out everyone with a sniper rifle. Or you can call in air support to do all the work for you. The choice is up to you and the game doesn't penalize you for sticking to a single way. This helps keep the gameplay fresh for a long time. See More

Top Con

High learning curve

MGS V can feel really overwhelming at the start. First the controls have various nuances such as different ways of crawling. Then you get a bunch of mechanics thrown at you, such as stealth, base management, etc. It will take quite a while until you can fully enjoy the game. See More

Specs

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Allows players to create their private military company

Throughout the game, you will be trying to rebuild your private military company. Your base of operations is the "Mother Base", which is a giant structure similar to an oil rig. You can expand it and add new facilities such as Research and Development. You'll also be managing your personnel, allowing you to recruit (capture) enemy soldiers and assign them work in their area of expertise. This can be research, development, various upkeep tasks around the base or earning resources out in the field. All of these things truly make you feel like you're running a PMC. See More

Top Con

Micro transactions make multiplayer pay-to-win

You can buy bundles of in-game currency, which can be used to gain an advantage in multiplayer. This makes multiplayer not fun for the players who don't intend on spending extra money. It also makes it boring for the ones who spend the money. Both of these things negatively impact the longevity of the multiplayer. Some of the bundles go for $79.99, which is more than the game's price. It's sad seeing Konami milk their fans with microtransactions like this. See More

Top Pro

Enemy AI adapts to your playstyle

The enemy will pick up on your habits and react accordingly. For example, if you use tranq darts to knock enemies out, they will try to wake up their comrades at first. Do this for a couple of missions and they'll immediately run to sound the alarm when they spot someone knocked out. This way the game expertly keeps you out of the comfort zone, having the later missions feel as tense as the first. See More

Top Pro

Large assortment of weapons and tools

MGS V has a lot of weapons, including pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and sniper rifles. There are both lethal and non-lethal variants, allowing you to find something suitable for any playstyle. There are also many tools such as the Fulton device, which allows you to capture enemy soldiers and animals, sending them to your base. It's a ton of fun experimenting with new gadgets. See More

Top Pro

Reflex system helps you stay unnoticed

Time will slow down for a short time if you're spotted by an enemy. This allows you to take them out before they can sound the alarm or alert other soldiers. This is quite refreshing compared to other stealth games, where messing up means an immediate end to being stealthy. See More

Tom Clancy's The Division

Top Pro

Open world freedom

Once the introduction to the game is played through, all missions for the game can be unlocked by just walking around the map. The player is free to choose any mission they would like to try, though some may be too tough depending on the player and mission skill level. The game is set in a living breathing world, in addition to the primary missions you will randomly encounter a variety of side missions you can do for additional experience and rewards. See More

Top Con

Repetitive cover-based shooting

Literally the only mechanic in the game. There are no other true ways to avoid and attack enemies. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Open world RPG

Top Pro

Fun team shooter gameplay with RPG elements

The core gameplay for the division is a cover based third person team shooter, however over the course of the game you can customize your solider in a lot of different ways to keep things interesting. You can unlock various active skills to use during combat, passive perks that buff up your solider and talents that activate when you perform a certain action like getting a headshot. Although it starts simple, as you progress through the game you can then modify and upgrade a lot of the abilities to keep things interesting. On top of all this the loot and gear systems make it really fun to continually upgrade your solider. You have over 10 slots for various bits of gear that have a primary attribute that will improve either your DPS, health or how powerful your active ability are. Weapons also have multiple mod slots, so you can add on different scopes, silencers, grips etc that make meaningful changes to gameplay. See More

Top Con

Constant server downtime

Servers are always dropping connection and causing users to lose around 15 to 20 minutes progress. See More

Top Pro

Great matchmaking

This game has made it very easy to group up with friends, nearby players, or random players looking for the same content. Grouping from the player menu is always available, and when you enter a mission you can choose to look for players to join you as well as set the difficulty. Also looking at the ISAC map lets you see friends' locations and invite them to group. See More

Top Con

Awful AI system

AI will run all over the place and then stand in front of your turret for no reason. See More

Top Pro

Lots of fun to play with friends

The missions get hard fast, so the game forces you to co-ordinate with your team and ensure you have the right team composition to beat the more difficult missions. You'll have to keep track of the locations of all your team to make sure you're not getting flanked, be in position to rescue downed friends and let people know when you spot a sniper or a boss. See More

Top Con

Poor enemy NPC chatter

The in game chatter of the enemy NPC is laughably bad. As you are shooting them one by one they constantly say the same things that are not really relevant to the situation such as calling you names or just simply stating that you should "get lost". This can be immersion breaking and asks the question what the devs were thinking when putting this type of chatter in the game in these situations. See More

Top Pro

Great use of a cover system

The cover system in the game is quite intuitive. The player can easily crouch behind an object for cover (being that it is highlighted, so the player knows where they can cover) with one button press. Once in cover, any other area within a certain distance will highlight letting the player know they can run to the next spot for cover. This is done through a singular button press while being held down. This makes for an easy way to run from cover to cover with little effort. Which allows for flanking enemies and just an overly easy way to move around without taking too many bullets while in a fire fight. See More

Top Con

Boring grinding system

After hitting level 14 - 15 most missions are either way to high or to low to go back to play. So you are stuck doing awfully boring side missions that become quite repetitive, most are Hostage Rescue or Zone Decontamination and require no effort. The next missions start around level 20, which seems to be a way to force players into the Dark Zone. See More

Top Pro

Rich crafting environment

Every piece of gear and every weapon can be customized with different Mods. But the game does not stop there, as a player can actually alter attributes of individual pieces, deconstruct old gear for parts, and find and build gear from blueprints. See More

Top Con

Boring repetitive side-quests

The side-quests in the game tend to consist of the same tasks over and over again, this is repetitive and can get boring due to not much changing up in side-quest gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Class can be changed at any time

The class system for this game allows for the player to change class and perks at any time, meaning anyone can take on the role of their choosing at the drop of a hat. While this may cut down or replayability due to not having to play through multiple times to experience each class it does make for a great way to test out each one and their perks to land on one of the player's liking. See More

Top Pro

Pleasing graphics

While not up to par of the promotional material Ubisoft showed off a few years ago (not much of a surprise, this is Ubisoft after-all), the graphics are quite good and can easily be set on max setting with a smooth 60fps for those with good components in their computers. Even when using a mid range rig the graphics can easily be on high while getting above 30fps. In general what is present in the game is a winter city that is in a pre-opocolyptic crisis. The snow is randomized and can sweep in and out of the city at any time making for a beautiful representation of snow storms in a city. The city itself is pretty sparsely populated, which allows for less tax on the graphics, but of course the excuse is that it is basically an abandoned city other than the bad guys. There will be a few civilians in the streets but mainly you are alone out there until you run into trouble. See More

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Top Con

Can get repetitive

The overall gameplay formula doesn't change much over the course of the game. You fight orcs, take over strongholds, upgrade your character, and collect blips on the world map. After a while it can start feeling like a grind, especially during long play sessions. This is made worse in the final stretch of the game where you have to fight through 20 consecutive stronghold battles without any story segments or exposition. See More

Top Pro

Satisfying combat

Shadow of War gives one of the better feeling combat systems in recent times, allowing you to be either stealthy or go for direct confrontations. If you choose to be stealthy, you can skewer unsuspecting orcs from behind with your dagger, drop onto them from a building while impaling them with your sword, or just pierce them from afar with your bow. If you choose a direct confrontation, it's a really quick-paced and brutal showdown against your enemies with your chosen melee weapon. You weave combos against enemies, dodging, parrying, and countering enemy attacks, which ends in a devastating finishing move, resulting in a mutilated or decapitated orc. Whichever method you choose, the combat flows really well and you always feel like a force to be reckoned with. See More

Top Con

Unskippable cutscenes disrupt the flow of the gameplay

Every time an orc leader enters the screen, there is an unskippable cutscene where he rambles a bit, focusing the camera on him and halting combat until the cutscene ends. This usually happens as you're fighting another enemy, potentially disrupting your rhythm, which can be really frustrating, especially if mess up your combo or take an unnecessary hit after the cutscene. See More

Top Pro

You can lead an orc army and expand your own dominion

As part of the Nemesis system, you can recruit orc leaders after you've bested them in combat. Each one has his own unique strengths and weaknesses, so making the best possible army for conquering enemy territories might take a while. For example, an orc leader can be completely immune to ranged attacks, but can take increased damage from explosions. You should take such an orc leader on assaults against fortresses filled with archers but be wary of the slightest hints of any bombs. Once you've finished building a sizeable force, you can assault a fortresses. If you succeed in the assault, you'll take over a territory, allowing you to install your own orc leader as the ruler. With enough effort you'll gradually take over Mordor and its surrounding lands. Shadow of War makes you feel like a recruiter, general, and a ruler, which is very empowering and a lot of fun. See More

Top Pro

Character connections make for a compelling experience

Shadow of War uses the Nemesis system to create a more immersive and alive-feeling world. Thanks to it, orc leaders have names, ranks, titles, tribes they belong to, and most importantly, connections to other orc leaders. For example, an orc leader might be at war with another orc leader. This conflict won't end until one of them dies. There are also orcs that are considered blood brothers, having unwavering loyalty to each other. Because of this, don't be too surprised if you ever get betrayed by one of your followers that's trying to do right by his blood brother. Additionally, the leaders you fight will also develop connections with you. Orcs that you've killed or spared, may come back with scars, recalling your previous encounter and vowing to exact vengeance. Orcs that you've escaped from will mock you for being a chicken, and so forth. The gradual creation of this web of connections is very enjoyable and sometimes even more compelling than the game's main story. See More

Top Pro

Addictive gear collection fuels your thirst for orc blood

As you kill orc leaders, they'll drop random quality gear items, ranging from common rarity every-orc weapons/armor to legendary rarity artifacts with unique names. Each item serves to improve your character, providing various stat increases and damage bonuses. You can also upgrade gear with gems or via challenges that usually involve killing orcs, bolstering your strength even further. On top of that, there are set bonuses for legendary items, giving you special abilities such as your hits applying explosive poison on regular enemies. It's very exciting seeing what gear piece an orc leader will drop once you lob his head off, causing you to constantly seek out new victims. See More

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