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[TropicanaTwista]

Not sure if I would go that far, especially with different type of genres, but if they're not number 1, they're near the top. Always hate the "cinematic" complaints, as a couple of posters already mentioned on this thread. Having good cinematic, animations, graphics etc doesn't mean gameplay can't be great.

I also look at the variety they put and and its hard to argue. Realistic shooter like TLoU2, arcady shooter in returnal, Astrobot a God tier platformer, spiderman games fun hand to hand combat /traversal, and GoW with a more modern action RPG approach. They really cover a lot of areas and not many, if any, would I call bad gameplay wise.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

some rinky dink AA eastern games

 

[hemo memo]

Not a single Nintendo game comes close to the combat system of Horizon. The idea that Nintendo has a better battle system than PlayStation is the biggest bullshit of all time.

 

[Danjin44]

Very diferent type of gameplay. I play with a bow and arrow in Monster Hunter as my secundary build, and has nothing to do with Horizon. Horizon bow and arrow works almost like a 3rd person shooter game, you can aim and hit much more easelly and feels much more intuitive. Playing good with a bow and arow in Monster Hunter is much much harder and not intuitive at all.

That’s fucking issue, bow in Horizon doesn’t feel like a bow, it feels like typical gun. While Bow in MH is mid range weapon which you need to be optimal distance to do proper damage, it’s more challenging to use which makes it more fun.

When I played Horizon it felt like I was playing 3rd person FarCry game with most trash melee combat I ever seen in gaming.

 

[lughnasadh123]

What's best is subjective, but it's far, far better than how some would want you to believe.

 

[nikos]

No, not even close. Sony's first party output this and late last generation is the worst it's ever been, especially from a gameplay perspective.

Ghost of Tsushima - Not bad, never finished.
God of War 2018 - Garbage compared to original formula. Never finished. Didn't bother with sequel.
Helldivers II - Decent but also pretty boring for a shooter. There are way better shooters to play.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - Fun game, never finished. Need to go back.
Returnal - Fantastic with mouse & keyboard on PC. Was worth the wait.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure - Really enjoyed this one. Co-op was fun.
Spider-Man / Miles Morales: Fun games, waiting for PC version of sequel.
The Last of Us - Horrible. Forced myself to finish it over a ~9 year period. Didn't bother with sequel.

 

[thief183]

Do you know what a QTE is

Yes, I was exagerating for the sake of well, just being exagerated, but having gameplay linked to animation is so fking bad that I can't stand it anymore

 

[TintoConCasera]

Doesn’t address a single thing I said in my reply

And I’ve played those. I’m sorry but your favorite low budget games don’t stand up to the greats

Dude, you listed Horizon as an example of a game with good combat. Sorry, but you have no taste and this isn't subjective.

 

[Paasei]

Don’t confuse animations with gameplay.

 

[Kamina]

Unpopular opinion, but GAAS titles have best gameplay.

 

[Gaiff]

Anybody who has played GMGOW mode knows the combat system is anything but shallow.

Here is how good the combat is in the hands of a master.

 

[RaduN]

I mean if you have to go back to the PS2 and PS3 era then surely you can concede that Sony studios has been killing it the last 10 odd years.

I love MGSV but TLOU2 is better. It has dodge, way more fun enemies to fight, and while MGSV gives you an insane amount of tools to tackle each combat scenario, TLOU2's core mechanics and animations just elevate it enough to top MGSV. In terms of going prone, shooting from the prone position and the enhanced melee moveset, i'd say TLOU2 is the true successor to MGSV.

It's not about who does prone shooting better , or about the amount of tools, lol. It's about the way the enemies adapt to your strategies, it's about the feeling of actual encounters with some sort of inteligent, survival oriented enemies.
The more you use the same tactics in V, the more enemies "learn" you, at a level that's basically unprecedented (F.E.A.R displayed similar adaptability but on a much smaller, much more immediate manner).
I mean, try making a habit in headshooting your enemies and you'll see how they slowly change their equipment and positioning to counter your habbits (in this case bullet resistent helmets and much less exposure to sniping) or try using a smoke grenade more than a couple of times in the Quiet battle and before long she will start shooting them in mid air for Crist's sake.
Until Tlou does shit like this, it's not in the same universe as V, sorry.

 

[Strategize]

They're usually so good at cinematic presentation and storytelling that detractors have to find anyway to downplay them. Anyone who actually plays the games know just how tight and polished many of there games are from a gameplay standpoint.

 

[Aenima]

That’s fucking issue, bow in Horizon doesn’t feel like a bow, it feels like typical gun. While Bow in MH is mid range weapon which you need to be optimal distance to do proper damage, it’s more challenging to use which makes it more fun.

When I played Horizon it felt like I was playing 3rd person FarCry game with most trash melee combat I ever seen in gaming.

Being hard to play dosent make it better. Melee in Horizon is not that good but is much better in Horizon Forbidden West, the Bow gameplay in Horizon is top tier though for what you expect a bow gameplay to work. It feels intuitive and the diferent arrow types and bows only adds more to it. You have short range, mid range and long range bows in Horizon.

 

[Danjin44]

Doesn’t address a single thing I said in my reply

And I’ve played those. I’m sorry but your favorite low budget games don’t stand up to the greats

Post like this makes me think you are more impressed by the graphics more than actual combat.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Dude, you listed Horizon as an example of a game with good combat. Sorry, but you have no taste and this isn't subjective.

No taste lol

Went back to review your list then came back to reply, it made this even funnier

 

[sono]

They have made some great games and some not so great and so have others so no

 

[diffusionx]

Dude, you listed Horizon as an example of a game with good combat. Sorry, but you have no taste and this isn't subjective.

Horizon's combat actually is great though. It only sucks if you spam the basic bow and don't actually use all the weapons/tools, exploit weaknesses, learn how each robot behaves, etc. It's a huge step up from something like Far Cry.

I also don't see where Monster Hunter comes into this lol. Totally different game.

God of War 2018 - Garbage compared to original formula. Never finished. Didn't bother with sequel.

Old God of War games were basic hack and slash slop. They're cool, cinematic, epic games, but in terms of actual combat and mechanics, not even close to the new ones. And I thought Ragnarok was a good iteration on 2018 combat wise.

Like I said I wouldn't say Sony's games are the best combat but they are far, far, far better than apparently people think or let on.

 

[Three]

No offense to Nintendo but I'm going to have to have somebody explain how Nintendo games have "deep" gameplay/combat mechanics in comparison. Should be a good laugh. They're far more pedestrian and child/developing mind "friendly" in nature.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Post like this makes me think you are more impressed by the graphics more than actual combat.

Binary thinking is not an ally of critical thinking

 

[Danjin44]

Being hard to play dosent make it better. Melee in Horizon is not that good but is much better in Horizon Forbidden West, the Bow gameplay in Horizon is top tier though for what you expect a bow gameplay to work. It feels intuitive and the diferent arrow types and bows only adds more to it. You have short range, mid range and long range bows in Horizon.

What expected to bow to feel like I’m using bow not a gun. Also it about learning curve Bow has in MH which makes it fun to learn.

 

[nikos]

Old God of War games were basic hack and slash slop. They're cool, cinematic, epic games, but in terms of actual combat and mechanics, not even close to the new ones. And I thought Ragnarok was a good iteration on 2018 combat wise.

Like I said I wouldn't say Sony's games are the best combat but they are far, far, far better than apparently people think or let on.

Originals were actually fun to play though. Bought 2018 twice and couldn't get into it. There may be a good combat system there, I honestly don't really remember, but everything else about it was dreadful.

 

[Mossybrew]

Last of Us 2, Horizon, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man

I'll say I definitely prefer the combat in all of these games to Souls-style combat, that's for sure.

 

[ProtoByte]

PS Studios definitely have the most holistic gameplay suites overall, with the best attention to game feel. The most holistic being TLOU2.

CQC, ranged combat, stealth, level design and enemy design are taken 95% as far as they can go for that setting. I'm very confident in the next ND title.

God of War 2018 and Ragnarok have great combat and pretty good enemy design, but they could be taken further. Most of the limitations obviously had to do with the PS4. I think the next game needs to have wider scale combat (ie free up the camera, and give us freer vertically with jumps, flying, etc), more destructibility and a lot more free-form gore/carnage. And don't fucking nerf the shield again. Again, we'll also see what Barlog does with his sci-fi IP.

Spider-Man's traversal and CQC are good, but could be way better and more systemic. Again, wider scale, more destructibility and NPC counts (enemy and civillian) in the open world, more seamless integration with traversal and combat, and more physics with the web-swinging (ie, Web of Shadows). The stealth straight sucks, and Miles and Peter aren't different enough.

Ghost is the most meh.

 

[Edgelord79]

I’m not even sure they make the best story-driven games anymore although I suspect they are up there. I find the gameplay takes a backseat to story more in these games (although Returnal was refreshing).

 

[Strategize]

It's not about who does prone shooting better , or about the amount of tools, lol. It's about the way the enemies adapt to your strategies, it's about the feeling of actual encounters with some sort of inteligent, survival oriented enemies.
The more you use the same tactics in V, the more enemies "learn" you, at a level that's basically unprecedented (F.E.A.R displayed similar adaptability but on a much smaller, much more immediate manner).
I mean, try making a habit in headshooting your enemies and you'll see how they slowly change their equipment and positioning to counter your habbits (in this case bullet resistent helmets and much less exposure to sniping) or try using a smoke grenade more than a couple of times in the Quiet battle and before long she will start shooting them in mid air for Crist's sake.
Until Tlou does shit like this, it's not in the same universe as V, sorry.

It's cool as this sounds, it doesn't really translate to actual consequences and tension, in reality MGSV's guards remain very easy to exploit no matter what tactics they deploy by adapting, because your tools also get more overpowered and numerous, you actively have to nerf yourself in MSGV to have a balanced experience otherwise the AI simply can't keep up, thus the game feels like breadth over depth, a more polished Far-Cry like power fantasy. TLOU2 on harder difficulties is simply more balanced, no matter what tool or weapon in your arsenal you use, you will feel eventually feel the pressure the enemies put on you unless you play absolutely perfectly, actual tension.

 

[bitbydeath]

Don’t confuse animations with gameplay.

I mean RDR2 has shit animations and the gameplay suffers for it.

 

[RPCGamer]

Surprised no one has mentioned Ubi. There's is great

 

[RoboFu]

Nah not now. Most of their big games have stolen game design / gameplay from other peoples games except for a few like gran tourismo.

 

[bitbydeath]

Nah not now. Most of their big games have stolen game design / gameplay from other peoples games except for a few like gran tourismo.

Every game does that.

 

[ComputerBlue]

No way, some of them are incredible, the combat in the last of us 2 is so great and it’s fucking criminal that we didn’t get a multiplayer addition to it. But overall, no.

 

[Three]

That’s fucking issue, bow in Horizon doesn’t feel like a bow, it feels like typical gun. While Bow in MH is mid range weapon which you need to be optimal distance to do proper damage, it’s more challenging to use which makes it more fun.

When I played Horizon it felt like I was playing 3rd person FarCry game with most trash melee combat I ever seen in gaming.

I don't know if you've ever played Horizon or not but bows in Horizon have a charge level much like MH, they even have more bow-like stats than MH, they're not like guns. Horizon has draw speed stats, range stats too, and modifiers (like drawing two arrows, focus mode etc). It's nothing like a typical gun.

 

[Danjin44]

I don't know if you've ever played Horizon or not but bows in Horizon have a charge level much like MH, they even have more bow-like stats than MH, they're not like guns. Horizon has draw speed stats, range stats too, and modifiers (like drawing two arrows, focus mode etc). It's nothing like a typical gun.

I played original Horizon, it just never felt like a bow, which even original Last of Us does it much better.

 

[Banjo64]

In my view Supergiant created more captivating gameplay/combat with Hades compared to anything Sony have done.

The games look good, the writing is typically sub-par (anything post TLoU), the gameplay straight forward. It’s a good package overall. Just be happy with it, but the exaggerating doesn’t convince anyone.

 

[MujkicHaris]

That's like saying that Netflix-produced "content" is the pinnacle of cinema.
For me, after PlayStation 3, not a single game from PlayStation as a developer is worthy of being called good let alone great.

And the main reason why is because, with each generation, they take a bit of control from the player. If you compare the range of actions and the effect on the world you as a player make, things are regressing.

Combat isn't just how well or snappy your character performs. It's also how the world reacts to your input. You can't really make any change in the world with the combat of games you mentioned. You can't destroy the environment, you can't kill essential NPCs, the AI is basically waiting for your input, it has no goals or sense of intelligence.

In Black on PS2 I could destroy environments, Battlefield 3 on PS3 too gave us that awesomeness. And even today, it feels alien to have that in a game. Half-Life 1 & 2, F.E.A.R. still have amazing, ruthless AI. In Morrowind on Xbox or Gothic on PC you can kill almost any essential NPC. In Oblivion on PS3, you can put a poisoned apple in NPC's pocket and kill them that way.
This is why people are amazed by Elden Ring or Kingdom Come: Deliverance. They got a bit of control back.

PlayStation-developed "modern" games are not even good at the cinematic aspect. Usually, the story in their games and especially dialogue is quite dry and not worth the time.

But then again, we all have different standards.

 

[Azelover]

I disagee.. but don't get me started. It's a can of worms..

 

[sainraja]

Lol, no they fucking don't. The games from Sony's studios tend to be overly obsessed with animation, which comes at the expense of responsiveness. That's their MO. TLOU2, in particular, also had some of the worst encounter design I've ever seen in a game of its type - just absolutely annoying design that's a pain in the ass to repeat. I have no idea why I even finished that game.

I play most of my stuff on PS5 at this point, but I cannot stand almost all of Sony's output purely from a gameplay standpoint.

Animations do matter. If you are talking about superfluous animations, then sure, but the main focus has always been that you can see/observe the movements. If I swing my arm in real life, it won't "skip" and hit the target just so we can have "better" responsiveness.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Surprised no one has mentioned Ubi. There's is great

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen gameplay for this game. Thank you!

 

[simpatico]

Son you better take God of War off that list right now. It's a good enough game, but top tier gameplay it is not. The gameplay is carried by the asset quality. TLOU and Ghost are pretty great though. They are both in the 'industry leading tier'. Sony was/is the last of the big publishers still putting out great stuff. This gen has been rough for my tastes, but PS4 was a first party masterclass. I hope they pull out of that tailspin because outside of CDPR and From one-offs, they're almost all we have left with a AAA budget. At least on a publisher-wide scale. If we're just going to get a never-ending stream of Horizon and Marvel I can safely tap out. God of War needs a reboot now worse than it did after PS3.

 

[Danjin44]

Animations do matter. If you are talking about superfluous animations, then sure, but the main focus has always been that you can see/observe the movements. If I swing my arm in real life, it won't "skip" and hit the target just so we can have "better" responsiveness.

Good game animation is about make animation look good but with limited frame, because you need take out some in between animation in order make it more responsive which games like RDR2 completely fails at.

 

[arkhamguy123]

That's like saying that Netflix-produced "content" is the pinnacle of cinema.
For me, after PlayStation 3, not a single game from PlayStation as a developer is worthy of being called good yet alone great.

And the main reason why is because, with each generation, they take a bit of control from the player. If you compare the range of actions and the effect on the world you as a player make, things are regressing.

Combat isn't just how well or snappy your character performs. It's also how the world reacts to your input. You can't really make any change in the world with the combat of games you mentioned. You can't destroy the environment, you can't kill essential NPCs, the AI is basically waiting for your input, it has no goals or sense of intelligence.

In Black on PS2 I could destroy environments, Battlefield 3 on PS3 too gave us that awesomeness. And even today, it feels alien to have that in a game. Half-Life 1 & 2, F.E.A.R. still have amazing, ruthless AI. In Morrowind on Xbox or Gothic on PC you can kill almost any essential NPC. In Oblivion on PS3, you can put a poisoned apple in NPC's pocket and kill them that way.
This is why people are amazed by Elden Ring or Kingdom Come: Deliverance. They got a bit of control back.

PlayStation-developed "modern" games are not even good at the cinematic aspect. Usually, the story in their games and especially dialogue is quite dry and not worth the time.

But then again, we all have different standards.

Aw cmon man it ain’t that bad

I see what you’re saying though. They’re less idiosyncratic less open like that but I still stand by what I said

 

[RodriGames40]

PlayStation exclusives consistently provide some of the best gameplay experiences, combining immersive storytelling, stunning graphics. Neither Nintendo or Microsoft can truly compete with PlayStation when it comes to delivering top-tier gameplay experiences.



I mean, just look at this. Nintendo and Xbox games are nothing more than a fart in the wind. I'm sorry, but that's the truth.

Nintendo games could easily be on par if they tried to be more like Pixar graphically and narratively, imagine that stunning animation and ocassionally deep family friendly stories with their tight, expressive games. Until then I agree PS consistently provide the best of the best.

 

[The artful mincer]

I would say on average they have the a good range of combat systems across multiple games and genres.

With third person shooters there surely top tier they have Horizon, Last of us, Uncharted, Returnal and even modern God of War lol.

Only Capcom really rivals them across multiple games and genres. Other publishers like say Koe Tecmo only have 1 developer that does amazing combat.

Oh yeah FROM software combat is MASSIVELY MASSIVELY MASSIVELY overrated especially that shallow ass basic rythm game Seikro.

I'm sorry what? A game with 1 weapon and 1 combo string has the best combat ever!? Get the fuck out here with that bullshit!

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

In that same vein, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best 3D Platformer I've ever played.

 

[SlimySnake]

That's like saying that Netflix-produced "content" is the pinnacle of cinema.
For me, after PlayStation 3, not a single game from PlayStation as a developer is worthy of being called good yet alone great.

Maybe the problem is you, not them?

From 2009-2020 they were the overall winner of both critics and users 5 times. 6 if you want to count Death Stranding as a first party game.

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[Kacho]

This is why there are so many bad drivers on the road.

Best post of the thread

 

[Kacho]

Don’t confuse animations with gameplay.

Second best post of the thread

 

[Jormatar]

They are up there. Many people put TLOU2 up there with the best stealth games, same with God of War/Horizon when it comes to 3rd person action games. They have come a long way since people used to call their games "walking simulators".

 

[Vick]

Not sure I'd say best gameplay because of those game structures most of the time.. but the best combat experiences I've had in games happen to be in titles funded and published by Sony. Good luck with this topic on GAF though.

Don't even want to waste time but saying GoW combat system is "shallow" is just absolutely unjustifiable insanity. It's objectively the literal, exact opposite of that, as good as you can make it.







When compared to alternatives within the same genere, including and especially Capcom games like Resident Evil Remakes (let alone stuff like Evil Within or Alan Wake 2), another one that's entirely unparalleled is TLOU:













In Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy are contained the best third person shootouts I've ever had:

I found Spider-Man's combat, while not as satisfying and fluid as Arkham Knight, to be much harder and complex to perform than the latter.

Ghost of Tsushima has the single most satisfying move in gaming to me, Water Stance Surging Strikes:



Which once unlocked I abused shamelessly for the entire playthough simply in virtue of how it felt to perform.

Best Bow combat I've ever had? Horizon: Zero Dawn.

So.. yeah. If the entirety of those games was made of Multiplayer Modes (Factions still alive after 11 years, Uncharted 4 Multiplayer still played after 8) or Extra Modes like No Return in TLOU and Valhalla in GoW, I feel nobody would be able to dispute that because that's what you would read all the time.

 

[The artful mincer]

Dude, you listed Horizon as an example of a game with good combat. Sorry, but you have no taste and this isn't subjective.

If by isn't subjective you mean entirely subjective then yes your correct.