So to quote the guys from Monty Python “And now for something completely different”. I’m still too poor to splash out on some new game. Believe it or not nobody pays me to do this. Therefore I don’t have £40 to spend on The Last of Us Part 2, so I improvise. I saw recently an article claiming to state “The Top 30 PS4 games you must play”. Now, those who know me will know how much I don’t like being told I ‘must’ do something, but this gave me an idea. I would take from Metacritic the top 10 rated PS4 games I have played and in a short paragraph mention if it’s a must play or not. Just as a disclaimer, the numbers I’m using are the rankings on Metacritic so in the case that I miss a number I’ve either not played it or not played it enough to warrant a decent opinion.
1) Read dead redemption 2:
A strong contender straight out of the gate. Red Dead 2 was a game that I took great enjoyment from playing. I got to the end of the story but there are so many collectables and side quests that I could probably put another 100+ hours into it and still be short of the platinum trophy. As far as a must play goes I would probably say that it is. The single player is engaging and full of content, there is also the multiplayer as well if you’re into that sort of thing.
2) Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V was one of the games that I got in the bundle with my original PS4 (along with Drive Club, The Last of Us Remastered & a copy of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on BluRay). I don’t think my feelings for GTA V are as strong as they are for Red Dead 2. Red Dead had the stronger story and looked that much crisper which may be due to it being native to the current generations rather than a port like GTA. Although on it’s own merits I’d probably recommend you play it, again there is the multiplayer which is one of the few multiplayer games I’ve partaken in.
4) The Last of Us Remastered
I first played The Last of Us on the PS3 when it was first released and I enjoyed it for the most part. Besides a few pacing niggles, the story was gripping, the atmosphere was intense and graphically it was brilliant (even more so on the PS4). I reviewed it some years ago and gave it my game of the year back then as did 200+ other more reputable institutes. Therefore it’s a recommendation from me.
5)God of War
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and 1000 times yes. If I was running my Game of the Year back in 2018 this would have been my choice hands down. The story may have been a bit disjointed at times but everything else it did so well that it was forgiven. The environments are just stunning, It has immersion to spare and the gameplay is some of the cleanest outside the Batman Arkham games. Did I mention that I recommend it.
7) Persona 5
Now this one surprises me. There were many other games I would have expected to rank higher than this one but it is what it is. As I mentioned in my review of it, the game is solid enough but I’m not sure if I would categorise it as a “Must Play”. It’s quite a niche game and I imagine more than a few people would be irritated by the games choppy, stop-start gameplay and story telling. If you’re into all things Japanese then be my guest, otherwise I’d understand if you leave it.
8)Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Now, I have an issue with The Phantom Pain. Before it’s release and watching the trailers I was sold on the game. It promised to be an open world MGS game, yes please. Sadly though what we got was open world with a big ol’ asterisk and in doing so broke the flow of the game. This bummed me out big time. I don’t think I would call it a “Must Play” but if your a fan of the series it’s still one of the best of them.
9)Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Uncharted 4 to me is a game that shouldn’t have existed other than to have an Uncharted game on the PS4. It added nothing to the series, It was just another Uncharted game which looked nicer. It may have rounded off the whole Nathan Drake saga a lot better than the 3rd one did but it didn’t need to. If you are a fan of the series I’d play it just to finish it all off but to the rest of us I wouldn’t call it a “Must Play”.
13) The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 was a game I could really get my teeth into. My previous experience with The Witcher series came from playing the original game for a couple of hours and watching the Netflix series. It took me a little while to get the lore of the game but once I did I was fully immersed into the life of Geralt of Rivia. As such I would give the game a “Must Play” for those with and without prior experience of the series.
21) Resident Evil 2
Here we have a great example of how a game should be re-imagined. Everything I loved about the original is there with improved game-play and graphics. One of my few flaws in the game was that I couldn’t enjoy it for longer. I’d have given it my Game of the Year for 2019 had I been giving out awards then. Without a shadow of a doubt I would give it a “Must Play” stamp of approval.
28) Monster Hunter World
This was the first Monster Hunter I played in the series, but I’ve seen friends play some of the older ones so it wasn’t like I went in unaware of what awaited me. I put in far more hours then I thought I would have before I started. If you enjoy a challenge, and/or have a love of micromanagement and cats I’d recommend it. If you fall outside this Venn diagram then you’ll probably be better off with something else, therefore for the reason that I couldn’t recommend it to everyone I don’t think I could call it a “Must Play”
In conclusion. Metacritic gave all 10 of these games it’s “Must Play” stamp of approval, I would only have to agree with 6 of the 10. I do believe however there are a number of other games that should be worthy of a play through by any PS4 owner. The first one that come to mind is Horizon Zero Dawn. It is a good, solid game and I would recommend it to anyone who has a PS4. Metacrtic ranks it in 46th which in my opinion is very harsh. Next one I’d recommend would be Marvel’s Spider-Man, Metacritic has this at 77th which to me feels very much like a slap in the face. True the game is not perfect, but what the game does best is that it is fun. The swinging mechanics are so smooth and fluid that you’ll find yourself taking wrong turns just so you can keep at it. If you are a person that likes having fun, I’d say get it. Although in the end it all depends on each person’s tastes and preferences. Even games I’ve stated as “Must Plays” will find people who dislike it. I don’t think there will ever be one game that will be universally loved by everyone. As the saying goes “You can please some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time but you can never please all the people all the time”, in short “Haters gonna hate”.
Indi Plays 