This is like, a really good game. Only remember hearing bad things about it when it launched; how it was broken and glitchy, but also that it wasn't a very good game besides. but I had also heard it held in very high regard elsewhere. so had uncertain expectations. but its pretty awesome. smooth 60fps and nearly technically flawless on PS5 -- save for one area: was driving along and fell right through a bridge as if it didn't exist. tested it 4 times and the same thing happened. it was just kinda funny. when I got around to the area I needed just past that point, though, nothing really loaded in right. cars looked like blue, oblong blobs. very strange. but this didn't hinder anything game wise, so who cares. Game looks good, sounds good, runs good, feels good to play.

I really enjoyed the story as it moved along and got pretty invested in it and the characters. Deacon, Boozer, Sarah, Iron Mike, Rikki, et al. Good characters all around throughout the game and very well acted (though, unfortunately, Deacon does not scream "KENOBIIIIII").

great gameplay loop. enjoyed the open world, mission and progression systems. just really fun riding through the wasteland clearing side missions, especially as you continue upgrading Deacon, your weapons, and your bike.

I was not looking forward to hordes at all. running into them early game just bugged me out and I didn't know what to do and got so overwhelmed. and then to learn that those were actually the tiny ones, and I took out a hundreds strong one before even getting to the one you do for a story mission. obviously having the right weapons and upgrades help. you are faster than the horde, you just need enough stamina to stay faster than the horde. and you need the Chicago chopper. it is really a cool learning curve, that feels parallel to Deacon's own progression, getting used to the feeling of having a horde after you, and being calm enough to know what to do. Also just pretty technically impressive having that much going on.

And finally, yeah, I now understand the outrage over the supposed sequel getting canned. cause I was right there with Deek saying "what the fuck?" during that very final cutscene of the game with O'Brian. The story and lore were built so well and there is so much room for more, especially with that ending. Gotta have it, Sony.

A magnum opus, truly. A beautiful game. I was struck many times during cutscenes at just how good the character models looked. Six years since release it holds up as one of the best looking games I've played. For me this is far and away better than the first three games. It has been weird to find out that there are those out there that don't like this game or prefer any of its predecessors. I suspect nostalgia plays a part, but I have none of that and so I think 4 is objectively (and subjectively!) better that 1,2, or 3 in every way.

I loved the story and the conflict between characters and the parallels and the callbacks and references to previous games. The moment to moment dialogue between characters as you play was excellent and it was wonderful to have time on missions with Sully and Elena between time with Sam. I loved Sam, except when his lie was revealed; I suspected something, but not exactly that. And for being in prison for 15 years, Sam sure was fuckin good at climbing and rope swinging and everything. An excellent voice performance by Troy Baker as well. I think Rafe was a good villain, and Nadine was pretty badass; looking forward to see more of her in lost legacy.

Loved the all the bloody pirate stuff. Favorite treasure hunt/story of the lot. Pirates are cool. Enjoyed the puzzles. Many beautiful locations. The set piece escape scenarios felt like a greatest hits compilation at times, bigger and better than before. Could also feel the Last of Us influence, with the movement and pushing around boxes to climb on and such. Also the rope, that was fun; why didn't Nate ever think to bring a rope before?

Something I did not enjoy as much, was the combat. This felt a lot harder than previous games, just playing on moderate. The aiming felt less precise, probably a switch to more realistic gameplay or whatever, but it took me a long while to get used to, and even still I tried to stealth as much as I could. Going for trophy cleanup with auto aim on was wonderful. Probably will be more likely that I eventually go back for the crushing playthrough and the plat knowing I can use auto aim and infinite ammo. Otherwise I cannot imagine how fucked crushing difficulty is.

Not even gonna talk about multiplayer cause who cares, that shit can get in the bin. Can't imagine wasting more time on it than needed for the trophies.

Shame the PS4 version didn't get a 60fps upgrade/unlock for PS5 like so many other games, but after the initial noticement, the 30fps wasn't an issue.

What a game, what an experience.

- 61/68 Trophies

I like space games. had a real nice run a couple years ago with Tacoma, Deliver Us The Moon, and Observation --so I looked up more cool space games and this is one I found, now finally able to play it on PS5. A very nice looking game, with good sounds, especially when you come across audio logs that play classical piano music. It's an interesting enough story, learning what happened in bits and pieces as you repair station functions, with slow, floaty, space gameplay.

I was able to obtain all the trophies in just two playthroughs, a slight miracle. I was lucky enough to come across all audio logs and transmissions during my first playthrough, something many think is glitched. I spent a lot of time backtracking and exploring trying to find the last few SSDs I had missed, and only used a guide to find the last one when I got sick of aimlessly searching (thankfully it was near the beginning of the guide). I had more or less accepted that I would probably never find all the logs because I had already floated around so long and didn't want to go through the game again or backtrack the entire game following a guide. So it was a rather fist pumping moment when the "Obsessive" trophy popped upon entering the escape pod. This left me with only three trophies: complete in under 2 hours, complete sans dying, and collect only half of the tokens. Easy enough to complete under 2 hours without dying once you've already played through and know where to go and don't bother with any side items.

Overall a good experience, and a high recommend for all space game fans. It is a pretty great experience just playing through the first time at your own pace, uncovering what happened, and exploring at your own leisure (and caution) to find more bits of story. Can be tricky/painstaking to complete, if that's your thing; also no platinum trophy, if that's your thing.

I think this may be my favorite of the three. They amped up the cinematic quality and it looks the best of the collection by far, as my memory serves. It had some swell character moments with Sully and Elena. Great performances again from both actors. I've always loved Elena's voice work; the part where she shows up in the jeep to help you catch the plane, her delivery of "yeah!" is perfect in an unexplainable way. Also nice to have Chloe around for a bit, and Charlie is a good addition too.

It definitely has a massively less shitty final level/boss than 2. but god damn there were just so many firefights, and they lasted forever with enemies seemingly popping out of your ass with how they randomly appeared at times. heavies could be pretty annoying, but brutes and their forced, drawn out brawls were just complete shit.

I thought there was going to be a more clear explanation of Talbot's bullshit at the end; I mean I really expected him to be like a big djinn that would be revealed at the end, especially after Marlowe died. But there wasn't anything. Still, I would not have enjoyed another bullshit supernatural final boss fight a la uncharted 2, so I'm okay with it.